
Class 
Book 






/ 



THE 



CONSTITUTION 



A PRO-SLAVERY COMPACT: 



OR, 



EXTRACTS 



THE MADISON PAPERS, ETC 



SELECTED BY 



WENDELL^PHILLIPS 



THIRD EDITION, ENLARGED 



NEW YORK: 

AMERICAN ANTI-SLAVERY SOCIETY, 

Office 138 Nassau Street. 

185 6. 






CONTENTS 



Page 
Introduction, ------- -5 

Debates in the Congress of the Confederation, - - 11 

Debates in the Federal Convention, - - - 19 

List of Members of the Federal Convention, - - 57 

Speech of Luther Martin, - - - - - 59 

DEBATES IN STATE CONVENTIONS. 

Massachusetts, - - - - - - , - 65 

New York, --.----.72 

Pennsylvania, -----.-75 

Virginia, - - - - - ... -78 

North Carolina, -------93 

South Carolina, -------98 

Extracts from the Federalist, ----- 104 

Debates in First Congress, ------ 107 

Address of the Executive Committee of the American Anti- 
Slavery Society, ------ 145 

Letter from Francis Jackson to Governor Briggs, - - 171 

Extract from Mr. Webster's Speech, - 181 

Extracts from John Quincy Adams's Address, November, 1844, 181 



il 



INTRODUCTION. 



Every one knows that the " Madison Papers " contain a Report, 
from the pen of James Madison, of the Debates in the Old Congress 
of the Confederation, and in the Convention which formed the Consti- 
tution of the United States. We have extracted from them, in these 
pages, all the Debates on those clauses of the Constitution which re- 
late to slavery. To these we have added all that is found, on the same 
topic, in the Debates of the several State Conventions which ratified 
the Constitution : together with so much of the speech of Luther Mar- 
tin before the Legislature of Maryland, and of the Federalist, as relate 
to our subject ; with some extracts, also, from the Debates of the first 
Federal Congress on slavery. These are all printed without alteration, 
except that, in some instances, we have inserted in brackets, after the 
name of a speaker, the name of the State from which he came. The 
notes and italics are those of the original, but the editor has added a 
note on page 11, and two notes on page 52, which are marked as his, 
and we have taken the liberty of printfhg in capitals one sentiment of 
Rufus King's, -and two of James Madison's — a distinction which the 
importance of the statements seemed to demand — otherwise we have 
reprinted exactly from the originals. ^ 

These extracts develop most clearly all the details of that " com- ' 
promise," which was made between freedom and slavery, in 1787 ; 
granting to the slaveholder distinct privileges and protection for his 
slave property, in return for certain commercial concessions on his part 
toward the North. They prove also that the nation at large were fully 
aware of this bargain at the time, and entered into it willingly and with 
open eyes. 

"We have added the late " Address of the American Anti-Slavery 
1* (5) 



6 INTRODUCTION. 

Society," and the letter of Francis Jackson to Governor Briggs, 
resigning his commission of Justice of the Peace — as bold and hon- 
orable protests against the guilt and infamy of this national bargain, 
and as proving most clearly the duty of each individual to trample it 
under his feet. 

The clauses of the Constitution to which we refer as of a pro-slavery 
(character are the following : — 

Art. 1, Sect. 2. — Representatives and direct taxes shall be apportioned 
among the several States, which may be included within this Union, accord- 
ing to their respective numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the 
whole number of free persons, including those bound to service for a term of 
years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three fifths of all other persons. 

Art. 1, Sect. 8. — Congress shall have power ... to suppress insur- 
rections. 

Art. 1, Sect. 9. — The migration or importation of such persons as any 
of the States now existing shall think proper to admit, shall not be prohibit- 
ed by the Congress prior to the year one thousand eight hundred and eight: 
but a tax or duty may be imposed on such importation, not exceeding ten 
dollars for each person. 

Art. 4, Sect. 2. — No person, held to service or labor in one State, under 
the laws thereof, escaping into another, shall, in consequence of any law or 
regulation therein, be discharged from such service or labor ; but shall be 
delivered up on claim of the party to whom such service or labor may be 
due. 

Art. 4, Sect. 4. — The United^States shall guarantee to every State in 
this Union a republican form of government ; and shall protect each of them 
against invasion ; and, on application of the legislature, or of the executive, 
(when the legislature cannot be convened,) against donyestic violence. 

• 

The first of these clauses, relating to representation, confers on a 
slaveholding community additional political power for every slave held 
among them, and thus tempts them to continue to uphold the system : 
the second and the last, relating to insurrection and domestic violence, 
perfectly innocent in themselves, yet being made with the fact di- 
rectly in view that slavery exists among us, do deliberately pledge the 
whole national force against the unhappy slave if he imitate our fathers 
and resist oppression — thus making us partners in the guilt of sus- 



INTRODUCTION. 7 

taining slavery : the third, relating to the slave trade, disgraces the 
nation by a pledge not to abolish that traffic till after twenty years, 
without obliging Congress to do so even then, and thus the slave trade 
may be legalized to-morrow if Congress choose : the fourth is a prom- 
ise on the part of the whole nation to return fugitive slaves to their 
masters, a deed which God's law expressly condemns, and which every 
noble feeling of our nature repudiates with loathing and contempt. 

These are the articles of the " Compromise," so much talked of 
between the North and South. 

We do not produce the extracts which make up these pages to 
show what is the meaning of the clauses above cited. For no man 
or party, of any authority in such matters, has ever pretended to 
doubt to what subject they all relate. If indeed they were ambiguous 
in their terms, a resort to the history of those times would set the 
matter at rest forever. A few persons, to be sure, of late years, to 
serve the purposes of a party, have tried to prove that the Constitu-' 
tion makes no compromise with slavery. Notwithstanding the clear 
light of history ; — the unanimous decision of all the courts in the 
land, both State and Federal ; — the action of Congress and the State 
Legislature ; — the constant practice of the Executive in all its 
branches ; — and the deliberate acquiescence of the whole people for 
half a century, still they contend that the nation does not know its 
own meaning, and that the Constitution does not tolerate slavery! 
Every candid mind, however, must acknowledge that the language of 
the Constitution is clear and explicit. 

Its terms are so broad, it is said, thai they include many others 
besides slaves, and hence it is wisely ( ! ) inferred that they cannot in- 
clude the slaves themselves! Many persons besides slaves in this 
country doubtless are " held to service and labor under the laws of 
the States," but that does not at all show that slaves are not " held 
to service ; " many persons beside the slaves may take part " in in- 
surrections," but that does not prove that when the slaves rise, the 
National Government is not bound to put them down by force. Such 
a thing has been heard of before as one description including a great 
variety of persons, — and tins is the case in the present instance. 

But granting that the terms of the Constitution are ambiguous — 



8 INTRODUCTION. 

that they are susceptible of two meanings — if the unanimous, concur- 
rent, unbroken practice of every department of the Government, ju- 
dicial, legislative, and executive, and the acquiescence of the whole 
people for fifty years, do not prove which is the true construction, then 
how and where can such a question ever be settled ? If the people 
and the courts of the land do not know what they themselves mean, 
who has authority to settle their meaning for them ? 

If, then, the people and the courts of a country are to be allowed to 
determine what their own laws mean, it follows that at this time, 
and for the last half century, the Constitution of the United States 
has been, and still is, a pro-slavery instrument, and that any one who 
swears to support it, swears to do pro-slaver}' acts, and violates his 
duty both as a. man and an abolitionist. What the Constitution may 
become a century hence, we know not ; we speak of it as it is, and 
repudiate it as it is. 

But the purpose, for which we have thrown these pages before the 
community, is this. Some men, finding the nation unanimously de- 
ciding that the Constitution tolerates slavery, have tried to prove that 
this false construction, as they think it, has been foisted into the in- 
strument by the corrupting influence of slavery itself, tainting all it 
touches. They assert that the known anti-slavery spirit of revolution- 
ary times never could have consented to so infamous a bargain as the 
Constitution is represented to be, and has in its present hands become. 
Now these pages prove the melancholy fact, that willingly, with de- 
liberate purpose, our fathers bartered honesty for gain, and became 
partners with tyrants, that they might share in the profits of their 
tyranny. • 

And in view of this fact, will it not require a very strong argument 
to make any candid man believe, that the bargain which the fathers 
tell us they meant to incorporate into the Constitution, and which the 
sons have always thought they found there incorporated, does not ex- 
ist there, after all ? Forty of the shrewdest men and lawyers in the 
land assemble "to make a bargain, among other tilings, about slaves. 
After months of anxious deliberation, they put it into writing, and 
sign their names to the instrument. Fifty years roll away, — twenty 
millions, at least, of their children pass over the stage of life, — courts 



INTRODUCTION. 9 

sit and pass judgment, — parties arise and struggle fiercely ; still, all 
concur in finding in the instrument just that meaning which the fa- 
thers tell us they intended to express : — must not he be a desperate 
man, who, after all this, sets out to prove that the fathers were bun- 
glers and the sons fools, and that slavery is not referred to at all ? 

Besides, the advocates of this new theory of the Anti-slavery char- 
acter of the Constitution quote some portions o£ the Madison Papers 
in support of their views, — and this makes it proper that the com- 
munity should hear all that these Debates ,have to say on the subject. 
The further we explore them, the clearer becomes the fact, that the 
Constitution was meant to be, what it has always been esteemed, a 
compromise between slavery and freedom. 

If, then, the Constitution be, what these Debates show that our 
fathers intended to make it, and what, too, then* descendants, this 
nation, say they did make it and agree to uphold, — then we affirm 
that it is " a covenant with death and an agreement with hell," and 
ought to be immediately annulled. No abolitionist can consistently 
take office under it, or swear to support it. 

But if, on the contrary, our fathers failed in then' purpose, and the 
Constitution is all pure and untouched by slavery, — then, Union it- 
self is impossible, without guilt. For it is undeniable that the fifty 
years passed under this (anti-slavery) Constitution show us the slaves 
trebling in numbers ; — slaveholders monopolizing the offices and dic- 
tating the policy of the Government ; — prostituting the strength and 
influence of the nation to the support of slavery here and elsewhere ; 
— trampling on the rights of the free States, and making the courts 
of the country their tools. To continue this disastrous alliance longer 
is madness. The trial of fifty years with the best of men and the 
best of Constitutions, on this supposition, only proves that it is im- 
possible for free and slave States to unite on any terms, without all 
becoming partners in the guilt, and responsible for the sin of slavery. 
We dare not prolong the experiment, and with double earnestness we 
repeat our demand upon every honest man to join in the outcry of the 
American Anti-Slavery Society, — 

NO UNION WITH SLAVEHOLDERS! 



THE CONSTITUTION 



PRO-SLAVERY COMPACT 



Extracts from Debates in the Congress of Confed- 
eration, preserved by Thomas Jefferson, 1776. 

Congress proceeded the same day to consider the Declara- 
tion of Independence. * * * 

The clause reprobating the enslaving the inhabitants of 
Africa was struck out, in compliance to South Carolina and 
Georgia, who had never attempted to restrain the importation 
of Slaves, and who, on the contrary, still wished to continue it. 
Our Northern brethren also, I believe, felt a little tender 
under those censures ; for though their people have very few 
slaves themselves, yet they had been pretty considerable car- 
riers of them to others.* — p. 18. 

On Friday, the twelfth of July, 1776, the committee ap- 
pointed to draw the articles of Confederation reported them, 
and on the twenty -second the House resolved themselves into 
a committee to take them into consideration. On the thirtieth 

* [The clause was as follows: "He [viz., King George 3d] has waged 
cruel war against human nature itself, violating its most sacred rights of life 
and liberty in the persons of a distant people who never offended him, capti- 
vating and carrying them into slavery in another hemisphere, or to incur a 
miserable death in their transportation thither. This piratical warfare, the 
opprobrium of infidel powers, is the warfare of the Christian King of Great 
Britain. Determined to keep a market where MEN should be bought and 
sold, he has prostituted his negative for suppressing every legislative at- 
tempt to prohibit or to restrain this execrable commerce." — Editor.] 

(11) 



12 THE CONSTITUTION 

and thirty-first of that month, and the first of the ensuing, 
those articles were debated which determined the proportion 
or quota of money which each State should furnish to the 
common treasury, and the manner of voting in Congress. 
The first of these articles was expressed in the original draught 
in these words : — 

"Article 11. All charges of war, and all other expenses 
that shall be incurred for the common defence, or general wel- 
fare, and allowed by the United States assembled, shall be 
defrayed out of a common treasury, which shall be supplied 
by the several Colonies in proportion to the number of inhabit- 
ants of every age, sex, and quality, except Indians not paying 
taxes, in each Colony, a true account of which, distinguishing 
the white inhabitants, shall be triennially taken and transmitted 
to the Assembly of the United States." 

Mr. Chase (of Maryland) moved, that the quotas should 
be paid, not by the number of inhabitants of every condition, 
but by that of the " white inhabitants." He admitted that taxa- 
tion should be always in proportion to property ; that this was 
in theory the true rule ; but that from a variety of difficulties 
it was a rule which could never be adopted in practice. The 
value of the property in every State could never be estimated 
justly and equally. Some other measure for the wealth of the 
State must therefore be devised, some standard referred to 
which would be more simple. He considered the number of in- 
habitants as a tolerable good criterion of property, and that this 
might always be obtained. He, therefore, thought it the best 
mode we could adopt, with one exception only. He observed 
that negroes are property, and as such cannot be distinguished 
from the lands or personalities held in those States where there 
are few slaves. That the surplus of profit which a Northern 
farmer is able to lay by, he invests in cattle, horses, &c. ; 
whereas, a Southern farmer lays out the -same surplus in 
slaves. There is no more reason, therefore, for taxing the 
Southern States on the farmer's head and on his slave's head, 
than the Northern ones on their farmers' heads and the heads 



A PRO-SLAVERY COMPACT. 13 

of their cattle. That the method proposed would, therefore, 
tax the Southern States according to their numbers and their 
wealth conjointly, while the Northern would be taxed on 
numbers only : that negroes, in fact, should not be considered 
as members of the State, more than cattle, and that they have 
no more interest in it. 

Mr. John Adams (of Massachusetts) observed, that the 
numbers of people were taken by this article as an index of 
the wealth of the State, and not as subjects of taxation. That 
as to this matter, 'it was of no consequence by what name you 
called your people, whether by that of freemen or of slaves. 
That in some countries the laboring poor were called freemen, 
in others they were called slaves : but that the difference as 
to the State was imaginary only. What matters it whether a 
landlord employing ten laborers on his farm gives them annu- 
ally as much money as will buy them the necessaries of life, 
or gives them those necessaries at short hand ? The ten 
laborers add as much wealth annually to the State, increase 
its exports as much, in the one case as the other. Certainly, 
five hundred freemen produce no more profits, no greater sur- 
plus for the payment of taxes, than five hundred slaves. 
Therefore the State in which are the laborers called freemen, * 
should be taxed no more than that in which are those called 
slaves. Suppose, by any extraordinary operation of nature or 
of law, one half the laborers of a State could, in the course of 
one night, be transformed into slaves, — would the State be 
made the poorer, or the less able to pay taxes ? That the 
condition of the laboring poor in most countries, — that of the 
fishermen, particularly, of the Northern States, — is as abject 
as that of slaves. It is the number of laborers which produces % 
the surplus for taxation ; and numbers, therefore, indiscrimi- 
nately, are the fair index of wealth. That it is the use of the 
word " property " here, and its application to some of the peo- 
ple of the State, which produces the fallacy. How does the 
Southern farmer procure slaves ? Either by importation, or 
by purchase from his neighbor. If he imports a slave, he 
2 



14 THE CONSTITUTION 

adds one to the number of laborers in his country, and pro- 
portionably to its profits and abilities to pay taxes ; if he buys 
from his neighbor, it is only a transfer of a laborer from one 
farm to another, which does not change the annual produce of 
the State, and therefore should not change its tax ; that if a 
Northern farmer works ten laborers on his farm, he can, it is 
true, invest the surplus of ten men's labor in cattle ; but so 
may the Southern farmer working ten slaves. That a State 
of one hundred thousand freemen can maintain no more cattle 
than one of one hundred thousand slaves ; therefore they have 
no more of that -kind of property. That a slave may, indeed, 
from the custom of speech, be more properly called the wealth 
of his master, than the free laborer might be called the wealth 
of his employer : but as to the State, both were equally its 
wealth, and should therefore equally add to the quota of 
its tax. 

Mr. Harrison (of Virginia) proposed, as a compromise, 
that two slaves should be counted as one freeman. He affirmed 
that slaves did not do as much work as freemen, and doubted 
if two effected more than one. That this was proved by the 
price of labor ; the hire of a laborer in the Southern colonies 
being from £8 to £12, while in the Northern it was gener- 
ally £24. 

Mr. Wilson (of Pennsylvania) said, that if this amend- 
ment should take place, the Southern colonies would have all 
the benefit of slaves, whilst the Northern ones would bear the 
burden. That slaves increase the profits of a State, which 
the Southern States mean to take to themselves ; that they 
also increase the burden of defence, which would of course fall 
so much the heavier on the Northern ; that slaves occupy the 
places of freemen, and eat their food. Dismiss your slaves, 
and freemen will take their places. It is our duty to lay 
every discouragement on the importation of slaves ; but this 
amendment would give the jus trium liberorum to him who 
would import slaves. That other kinds of property were 
pretty equally distributed through all the colonies : there were 



A PRO-SLAVERY COMPACT. 15 

as many cattle, horses, and sheep, in the North as the South, 
and South as the North ; but not so as to slaves : that expe- 
rience has shown that those cojonies have been always able to 
pay most, which have the most inhabitants, whether they be 
black or white ; and the practice of the Southern colonies has 
always been to make every farmer pay poll taxes upon all his 
laborers, whether they be black or white. He acknowledged, 
indeed,, that freemen worked the most ; but they consume the 
most, also. They do not produce a greater surplus for taxa- 
tion. The slave is neither fed nor clothed so expensively as 
a freeman. Again, white women are exempted from labor 
generally, which negro women are not. In this, then, the 
Southern States have an advantage as the article now stands. 
It has' sometimes been said that slavery was necessary, be- 
cause the commodities they raise would be too dear for market 
if cultivated by freemen ; but now it is said that the labor of 
the slave is the dearest. 

Mr. Payne (of Massachusetts) urged the original resolu- 
tion of Congress, to proportion the quotas of the States to the 
number of souls. 

Dr. Witherspoon (of New Jersey) was of opinion, that 
the value of lands and houses was the best estimate of the 
wealth of a nation, and that it was practicable to obtain such 
a valuation. This is the true barometer of wealth. The one 
now proposed is imperfect in itself, and unequal between the 
States. It has been objected that negroes eat the food of free- 
men, and therefore should be tax^d : horses also eat the food 
of freemen, therefore they also should be taxed. It has been 
said, too, that in carrying slaves into the estimate of the taxes 
the State is to pay, we do no more than those States them- 
selves do, who always take slaves into the estimate of the 
taxes the individual is to pay. But the cases are not parallel. 
In the Southern colonies, slaves pervade the whole colony ; 
but they do not pervade the whole continent. That as to the 
original resolution of Congress, it was temporary only, and re- 
lated to the moneys heretofore emitted ; whereas we are now 



16 THE CONSTITUTION 

entering into a new compact, and therefore stand on original 
ground. 

August 1st. The question being put, the amendment pro- 
posed was rejected by the votes of New Hampshire, Massa- 
chusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, 
and Pennsylvania, against those of Delaware, Maryland, 
Virginia, North and South Carolina. Georgia was divided. 
— pp. 27-8-9, 30-1-2. 



Extracts from Madison's Report of Debates in the 
Congress of Confederation. 

Tuesday, January 14, 1783. 

If the valuation of land had not been prescribed by the 
Federal Articles, the Committee would certainly have pre- 
ferred some other rule of apportionment, particularly that of 
numbers, under certain qualifications as to slaves. — p. 260. . 

Tuesday, Feb. 11, 1783. 

Mr. Wolcott declares his opinion that the Confederation 

ought to be amended by substituting numbers of inhabitants as 

the rule ; admits the difference between freemen and blacks ; 

and suggests a compromise, by including in the numeration 

such blacks only as were within sixteen and sixty years of 

age. — p. 331. 

Thursday, March 27, 1783. 

(The eleventh and twelfth paragraphs :) 

Mr. Wilson (of Pennsylvania) was strenuous in their 
favor ; said he was in Congress when the Articles of Confed- 
eration directing a valuation of land were agreed to ; that it 
was the effect of the impossibility of compromising the differ- 
ent ideas of the Eastern and Southern States, as to the value 
of slaves compared with the whites, the alternative in ques- 
tion. 

Mr. Clark (of New Jersey) was in favor of them. He 
said that he was also in Congress when this article was de- 



A PRO-SLAVERY COMPACT. 17 

cided ; that the Southern States would have agreed to num- 
bers in preference to the value of land, if half their slaves only 
should be included; but that the Eastern States would not 
concur in that proposition. 

It was agreed on all sides that, instead of fixing the propor- 
tion by ages, as the report proposed, it would be best to fix the 
proportion in absolute numbers. With this view, and that the 
blank might be filled up, the clause was recommitted. — pp. 
421-2. 

Friday, March 28, 1783. 

The committee last mentioned, reported that two blacks be 
rated as one freeman. 

Mr. Wolcott (of Connecticut) was for rating them as four 
to three. Mr. Carroll as four to one. Mr. Williamson 
(of North Carolina) said he was principled against slavery; 
and that he thought slaves an incumbrance to society, instead 
of increasing its ability to pay taxes. Mr. Higginson (of 
Massachusetts) as four to three. Mr. Rutledge (of South 
Carolina) said, for the sake of the object, he would agree to 
rate slaves as two to one, but he sincerely thought three to one 
would be a juster proportion. Mr. Holton as four to three. 
Mr. Osgood said he did not go beyond four to three. On a 
question for rating them as three to two, the votes were, New 
Hampshire, aye ; Massachusetts, no ; Rhode Island, divided ; 
Connecticut, aye ; New Jersey, aye ; Pennsylvania, aye ; 
Delaware, aye ; Maryland, no ; Virginia, no ; North Caro- 
lina, no ; South Carolina, no. The paragraph was then post- 
poned, by general consent, some wishing for further time to 
deliberate on it ; but it appearing~to be the general opinion 
that no compromise would be agreed to. 

After some further discussions on the Report, in which the 
necessity of some simple and practicable rule of apportionment 
came fully into view, Mr. Madison (of Virginia) said that, in 
order to give a proof of the sincerity of his professions of liber- 
ality, he would propose that slaves should be rated as five to 
three. Mr. Rutledge (of South Carolina) seconded the 
,2* 



18 THE CONSTITUTION 

motion. Mr. Wilson (of Pennsylvania) said he would sacri- 
fice his opinion on this compromise. 

Mr. Lee was against changing the rule, but gave it as his 
opinion that two slaves were not equal to one freeman. 

On the question of five to three, it passed in the affirmative : 
New Hampshire, aye ; Massachusetts, divided ; Rhode Island, 
no ; Connecticut, no ; New Jersey, aye ; Pennsylvania, aye ; 
Maryland, aye ; Virginia, aye ; North Carolina, aye; South 
Carolina, aye. 

A motion was then made by Mr. Bland, seconded by Mr. 
Lee, to strike out the clause so amended, and, on ,the question, 
" Shall it stand ? " it passed in the negative : New Hampshire, 
aye ; Massachusetts, no ; Rhode Island, no ; Connecticut, no ; 
New Jersey, aye ; Pennsylvania, aye ; Delaware, no ; Mary- 
land, aye ; Virginia, aye ; North Carolina, aye ; South Caro- 
lina, no ; — so the clause was struck out. 

The arguments used by those who were for rating slaves 
high were, that the expense of feeding and clothing them was 
as far below that incident to freemen as their industry and in- 
genuity were below those of freemen; and that the warm 
climate within which the States having slaves lay, compared 
with the rigorous climate and inferior fertility of the others, 
ought to have great weight in the case ; and that the exports 
of the former States were greater than of the latter. On the 
other side, it was said that slaves were not put to labor as 
young as the children of laboring families; that, having no 
interest in their labor, they did as little as possible, and omitted 
every exertion of thought requisite to facilitate and expedite 
it ; that if the exports of the States having slaves exceeded 
those of the others, their imports were in proportion, slaves 
being employed wholly in agriculture, not in manufactures ; 
and that, in fact, the balance of trade formerly was much more 
against the Southern States than the others. 

On the main question, New Hampshire, aye ; Massachusetts, 
no ; Rhode Island, no ; Connecticut, no ; New York, (Mr 
Floyd, aye ;) New Jersey, aye ; Delaware, no ; Maryland, 



A PRO-SLAVERY COMPACT. 19 

aye ; Virginia, aye ; North Carolina, aye ; South Carolina, 

no. — pp. 423-4-5. 

Tuesday, April 1, 1783. 

Congress resumed the Report on Revenue, &c. Mr. 
Hamilton, who had been absent when the last question was 
taken for substituting numbers in place of the value of land, 
moved to reconsider that vote. He was seconded by Mr. 
Osgood. Those who voted differently from their former 
votes were influenced by the conviction of the necessity of the 
change, and despair on both sides of a more favorable rate of 
the slaves. The rate of three fifths was agreed to without 
opposition. — p. 430. 

Monday, May 26, 1783. 

The Resolutions on the Journal, instructing the ministers in 
Europe to remonstrate against the carrying off the negroes — 
also those for furloughing the troops — passed unanimously. 
— p. 456. 



Letter from Mr. Madison to Edmund Randolph. 

Philadelphia, April 8, 1783. 
A change of the valuation of lands for the number of in- 
habitants, deducting two fifths of the slaves, has received a 
tacit sanction, and, unless hereafter expunged, will go forth in 
the general recommendation, as material to future harmony \ 
and justice among the members of the Confederacy. The de- i 
ductioa of two fifths was a compromise between the wide opin- 
ions and demands of the Southern and other States. — p. 523. ' 



Extract from " Debates in the Federal Convention" 
of 1787, for the formation of the -Constitution of 
the United States. 

. Tuesday, May 29, 1787. 
Mr. Charles Pinckney laid before the House the draft 
of a Federal Government. * * * " The proportion of 



20 THE CONSTITUTION 

direct taxation shall be regulated by the whole number of in- 
habitants of every description." — pp. 735, 741. 

Wednesday, May 30, 1787. 

The following Resolution, being the second of those pro- 
posed by Mr. Randolph, Avas taken up, viz. : — 

" That the rights of suffrage in the National Legislature 
ought Jo be proportioned to the quotas of contribution, or to the 
number of free inhabitants, as the one or the other rule may 
seem best in different cases." 

Colonel Hamilton moved to alter the resolution so as to 
read " that the rights of suffrage in the National Legislature 
ought to be proportioned, to the number of free inhabitants." 
Mr. Spaight seconded the motion. — p. 750. 

Wednesday, June 6, 1787. 

Mr. Madison. We- have seen the mere distinction of 
color made, in the most enlightened period of time, a ground 
of the most oppressive dominion ever exercised by man over 
man. — p. 806. 

Monday, June 11, 1787. 

Mr. Sherman proposed that the proportion of suffrage in 
the first branch should be according to the respective numbers 
of free inhabitants. 

Mr. Rutledge proposed that the proportion of suffrage 
in the first branch should be according to the quotas of con- 
tribution. 

Mr. King and Mr. Wilson, in order to bring the question 
to a point, moved " that the right of suffrage in the first 
branch of the National Legislature ought not to be according 
to the rule established in the Articles of Confederation, but 
according to some equitable ratio of representation." — p. 836, 

It was then moved by Mr. Rutledge, seconded by Mr. 
Butler, to add to the words " equitable ratio of representa- 
tion," at the end of the motion just agreed to, the words " ac- 
cording to the quotas of contribution." On motion of Mr. 
Wilson, seconded by Mr. Pinckney, this was postponed, in 
order to add, after the words " equitable ratio of representa- 



A PRO-SLAVERY COMPACT. 21 

tion," the words following : " In proportion to the whole num- 
ber of white and other free citizens and' inhabitants of every 
age, sex, and condition, including. those bound to servitude for 
a term of years,, and three fifths of all other persons not com- 
prehended in the foregoing description, except Indians not 
paying taxes, in each State," — this being the rule in the act 
of Congress, agreed to by eleven States, for apportioning 
quotas of revenue on the States, and requiring a census only 
every five, seven, or ten years. 

Mr. Gerry (of' Massachusetts) thought property not the 
rule of representation. Why, then, should the blacks, who 
were property at the South, be in the. rule of representation 
more than the cattle and horses of the North ? 

On the question : Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, 
Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South 
Carolina, Georgia, aye — 9 ; New Jersey, Delaware, no — 2. 
— pp. 842-^3. 

Tuesday, June 19, 1787. 

Mr. Madison. Where slavery exists, the republican the- 
ory becomes still more fallacious. — p. 899. 

Saturday, June 30, 1787. 

Mr. Madison admitted that every peculiar interest, whether 
in any class of citizens, or any description of states, ought to 
be secured as far as possible. Wherever there is danger of 
attack, there ought to be given a constitutional power of de- 
fence. But he contended that the States were divided into 
different interests, not by their difference of size, but by other 
circumstances ; the most material of which resulted partly 
from climate, but principally from the effects of their having 
or not having slaves. These two causes concurred in forming 
the great division of interests in the United States. It did 
not lie between the large and small States. IT LAY BE- 
TWEEN THE NORTHERN AND SOUTHERN; and 
if any defensive power were necessary, it ought to be mutu- 
ally given to these two interests. He was so strongly im- 
pressed with this important truth, that he had been casting 



22 THE CONSTITUTION 

about in his mind for some expedient that would answer the 
purpose. The one which had occurred was, that, instead of 
proportioning the votes of the States in both branches, to the 
irrespective numbers of inhabitants, computing the slaves in 
the ratio of five to three, they should be represented in one 
branch according to the number of free inhabitants only ; and 
in the other according to the whole number, counting the 
slaves as free. By this arrangement, the Southern scale would 
have the advantage in one House, and the Northern in the 
other. He had been restrained from proposing this expedi- 
ent by two considerations : one was, his unwillingness to urge 
any diversity of interests on an occasion where it is but too 
apt'to arise of itself; the other was, the inequality of powers 
that must be vested in the two branches, and which would 
destroy the equilibrium of interests. — pp. 1006-7. 

Monday, July 2, 1787. 

Mr. Pinckney. There is a real distinction between the 
Northern and Southern interests. North Carolina, South 
Carolina, and Georgia, in their rice and indigo, had a peculiar 
interest, which might be sacrificed. — p. 1016. 

Friday, July 6, 1787. 

Mr. Pinckney thought the blacks ought to stand on an 
equality with the whites ; but would agree to the ratio settled 
by Congress. — p. 1039. 

Monday, July 9, 1787. 

Mr. Patterson considered the proposed estimate for the 
future, according to the combined rules of numbers and wealth, 
as too vague. For this reason, New Jersey was against it. 
He could regard negro slaves in no light but as property. 
They are not free , agents, have no personal liberty, no fac- 
ulty of acquiring property, but on the contrary are them- 
selves property, and, like other property, entirely at the will 
of the master. Has a man in Virginia a number of votes in 
proportion to the number of his slaves ? And if negroes are 
not represented in the States to which they belong, why should 
they be represented in the General Government ? What is 



A PRO-SLAYERY COMPACT. 23 

the true principle of representation ? It is an expedient by 
which an assembly of certain individuals, chosen by the peo- 
ple, is substituted in place of the inconvenient meeting of the 
people themselves. If such a meeting of the people was 
actually to take place, would the slaves vote ? They would 
not. Why, then, should they be represented ? He was also 
against such an indirect encouragement of the slave trade ; 
observing that Congress, in their act relating to the change of 
the eisrhth article of Confederation, had been ashamed to use 
the term " slaves," and had substituted a description. 

Mr. Madison reminded Mr. Patterson that his doctrine 
of representation, which was in its principle the genuine one, 
must forever silence the pretensions of the small States to an 
equality of votes with the large ones. They ought to vote in 
the same proportion in which their citizens would do, if the 
people of all the States were collectively met. He suggested, 
as a proper ground of compromise, that in the first branch the 
States should be represented according to their number of 
free inhabitants ; and in the second, which had for one of its 
primary, objects the guardianship of property, according to 
the whole number, including slaves. 

Mr. Butler urged warmly the justice and necessity of 
regarding wealth in the apportionment of representation. 

Mr. King had always expected that as the Southern States 
are the richest, they would not league themselves with the 
Northern, unless some respect were jDaid to their superior 
wealth. If the latter expect those preferential distinctions in 
commerce, and other advantages which they will derive from 
the connection, they must not expect to receive them without 
allowing some advantages in return. Eleven out of thirteen 
of the States had agreed to consider slaves in the apportion- 
ment of taxation ; and taxation and representation ought to 
go together. — pp. 1054-5-6. 

Tuesday, July 10, 1787. 

In Convention. Mr. Kino reported, from the Committee 
yesterday appointed, " that the States, at the first meeting of 



24 THE CONSTITUTION 

the General Legislature, should be represented by sixty-five 
members, in the following proportions, to wit : New Hamp- 
shire by 3 ; Massachusetts, 8 ; Rhode Island, 1 ; Connecticut, 
5 ; New York, 6 ; New Jersey, 4 ; Pennsylvania, 8 ; Dela- 
ware, 1 ; Maryland, 6 ; Virginia, 10 ; North Carolina, 5 ; 
South Carolina, 5 ; Georgia, 3." 

Mr. King- remarked that the four Eastern States, having 
800,000 souls, have one third fewer representatives than the 
four Southern States, having not more than 700,000 souls, 
rating the blacks as five for three. The Eastern people will 
advert to these circumstances, and be dissatisfied. He believed 
them to be very desirous of uniting with their Southern 
brethren, but did not think it prudent to rely so far on that 
disposition as to subject them to any gross inequality. He 
was fully convinced that THE QUESTION CONCERN- 
ING A DIFFERENCE OF INTERESTS DID NOT 
LIE WHERE IT HAD HITHERTO BEEN DIS- 
CUSSED, BETWEEN THE GREAT AND' SMALL 
STATES, BUT BETWEEN THE SOUTHERN AND 
EASTERN. For this reason he had been ready to yield 
something, in the proportion of representatives, for the secu- 
rity of the Southern. No principle would justify the giving 
them a majority. They were brought as near an equality as 
was possible. He w r as not averse to giving them a still 
greater security, but did not see how it could be done. 

General Pinckney. The Report, before it was Committed, 
was more favorable to the Southern States than as it now 
stands. If they are-- to form so considerable a minority, and 
the regulation of trade is to be given to the General Govern- 
ment, they will be nothing more than overseers for the North- 
ern States. He did not expect the Southern States to be raised 
to a majority of representatives, but wished them to have 
something like an equality. 

Mr. Williamson. The Southern interest must be ex- 
tremely endangered by the present arrangement. The North- 
ern States are to have a majority in the first instance, and 
the means of perpetuating it. 



A PRO-SLAVERY COMPACT. 25 

General Pinckney urged the reduction, dwelt on the supe- 
rior wealth of the Southern States, and insisted on its having 
its due weight in the government. 

Mr. Gouverneur Morris regretted the turn of the de- 
bate. The States, he found, had many representatives on 
the floor. Few, he feared^ were to be deemed the represen- 
tatives of America. He thought the Southern States have, 
by the Report, more than their share of representation. Prop- 
erty ought to have its weight, but not all the weight. If the 
Southern States are to supply money, the Northern States 
are to spill their blood. Besides, the probable revenue to be 
expected from the Southern States has been greatly over- 
rated. — pp. 1056-7-8-9. 

Wednesday, July 11, 1787. 

Mr. Williamson moved that Mr. Randolph's proposi- 
tions be postponed, in order to consider the following : " That 
in order to ascertain the alterations that may happen in the 
population and wealth of the several States, a census shall be 
taken of the free white inhabitants, and three fifths of those 
of other descriptions on the first year after this government 

shall have been adopted, and every year thereafter; 

and that the representation be regulated accordingly." 

Mr. Butler and General Pinckney insisted that blacks 
be included in the rule of representation equally with the 
-whites ; and for that purpose moved that the words " three 
fifths " be struck out. 

Mr. Gerry thought that three fifths of them was, to say 
the least, the full proportion that could be admitted. 

Mr. Gorham. This ratio was fixed by Congress as a rule 
of taxation. Then it was urged by the Delegates represent- 
ing the States having slaves, that the blacks were still more 
inferior to freemen. At present, when the ratio of represen- 
tation is to be established, we are assured that they are equal 
to freemen. The arguments on the former occasion had con- 
vinced him that three fifths was pretty near the just propor- 
tion, and he should vote according to the same opinion now. 
3 



26 THE CONSTITUTION 

Mr. Butler insisted that the labor of a slave in South 
Carolina was as productive and valuable as that of a freeman 
in Massachusetts ; that as wealth was the great means of de- 
fence and utility to the nation, they were equally valuable to 
it with freemen ; and that consequently an equal representa- 
tion ought to be allowed for them in a government which was 
instituted principally for the protection of property, and was 
itself to be supported by property. 

Mr. Mason could not agree to the motion, notwithstanding 
it was favorable to Virginia, because he thought it unjust. It 
was certain that the slaves were valuable, as they raised the 
value of land, increased the exports and imports, and of 
course the revenue ; would supply the means of feeding and 
supporting an army, and might in cases of emergency become 
themselves soldiers. As in these important respects they were 
useful to the community at large, they ought not to be ex- 
cluded from the estimate of representation. He could not, 
however, regard them as equal to freemen, and could not vote 
for them as such. He added, as worthy of remark, that the 
Southern States have this peculiar species of property over 
and above the other species of property common to all the 
States. 

Mr. Williamson reminded Mr. Gorham, that if the 
Southern States contended for the inferiority of blacks to 
whites when taxation was in view, the Eastern States, on the 
same occasion, contended for their equality. He did not, 
however, either then or now, concur in either extreme, but 
approved of the ratio of three fifths. 

On Mr. Butler's motion for considering blacks as equal 
to whites in the apportionment of representation : Delaware, 
South Carolina, Georgia, aye — 3 ; Massachusetts, Connecti- 
cut, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, North 
Carolina, no — 7 ; New York not on the floor. 

Mr. Gouverneur Morris said he had several objections 
to the proposition of Mr. Williamson. In the first place it 
fettered the Legislature too much. In the second place it 



A PRO-SLAVERY COMPACT. 27 

would exclude some States altogether, who would not have a 
sufficient number to entitle them to a single representation. 
In the third place it will not consist with the resolution passed 
on Saturday last, authorizing the Legislature to adjust the 
representation from time to time on the principles of popula- 
tion and wealth, nor with the principles of equity. If slaves 
were to be considered as inhabitants, not as wealth, then the 
said Resolution would not be pursued ; if as wealth, then why 
is no other wealth but slaves included ? These objections 
may perhaps be removed by amendments. 

Mr. King thought there was great force in the objections 
of Mr. Gouverneur Morris. He would, however, accede 
to the proposition, for the sake of doing something. 

Mr. Gouverneur Morris. Another objection with him 
against admitting the blacks into the census was, that the peo- 
ple of Pennsylvania would revolt at the idea of being put on 
a footing with slaves. They would reject any plan that was 
to have such an effect. 

Mr. Madison. Future contributions, it seemed to be 
understood on all hands, would be principally levied on im- 
ports and exports. — pp. 1066-7-8-9 ; 1070-2-3. 

On the question on the first clause of Mr. Williamson's 
motion, as to taking a census of the free inhabitants, it passed 
in the affirmative : Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Jersey, 
Pennsylvania, Virginia, North Carolina, aye — 6 ; Delaware, 
Maryland, South Carolina, Georgia, no — 4. 

The next clause as to three fifths of the negroes being con- 
sidered, — 

Mr. Kino, being much opposed to fixing numbers as the 
rule of representation, was particularly so on account of the 
blacks. He thought the admission of them along with whites 
at all would excite great discontents among the States having 
no slaves. He had never said, as to any particular point, 
that he would in no event acquiesce in and support it ; but he 
would say that if in any case such a declaration was to be 
made by him, it would be in this. 



28 THE CONSTITUTION 

He remarked that in the temporary allotment of represen- 
tatives made by the Committee, the Southern States had 
received more than the number of their white and three fifths 
of their black inhabitants entitled them to. 

Mr. Sherman. South Carolina had not more beyond her 
proportion than New York and New Hampshire ; nor either 
of them more than was necessary in order to avoid fractions, 
or reducing them below their proportion. Georgia had more ; 
but the rapid growth of that State seemed to justify it. In 
general, the allotment might not be just ; but considering all 
the circumstances, he was satisfied with it. 

Mr. Gorham was aware that there might be some weight 
in what had fallen from his colleague, as to the umbrage 
which might be taken by the people of the Eastern States. 
But he recollected that when the proposition of Congress for 
changing the eighth Article of the Confederation was before 
the Legislature of Massachusetts, the only difficulty then was, 
to satisfy them that the negroes ought not to have been counted 
equally with the whites, instead of being counted in the ratio 
of three fifths only.* 

Mr. Wilson did not well see on what principle the admis- 
sion of blacks, in the proportion of three fifths, could be ex- 
plained. Are they admitted as citizens — then why are they 
not admitted on an equality with white citizens ? Are they 
admitted as property — then why is not other property ad- 
mitted into the computation ? These were difficulties, how- 
ever, which he thought must be overruled by the necessity of 
compromise. He had some apprehensions, also, from the ten- 
dency of the blending of the blacks with the whites, to give 
disgust to the people of Pennsylvania, as had been intimated 
by his colleague, (Mr. Gouverneur Morris.) 

Mr. Gouverneur Morris was compelled to declare him- 
self reduced to the dilemma of doing injustice to the South- 
ern States, or to human nature ; and he must therefore do it 

* They were then to have been a rule of taxation only. 



A PRO-SLAVERY COMPACT. 29 

to the former. For he could never agree to give such encour- 
agement to the slave trade as would be given by allowing 
them a representation for their negroes ; and he did not be- 
lieve those States would ever confederate on terms that would 
deprive them of that trade. 

On the question for agreeing to include three fifths of the 
blacks : Connecticut,^ Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia, aye 
— 4 ; Massachusetts, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, 
Maryland,* South Carolina, no — 6. — pp. 1076-7-8. 

Thursday, July 12, 1787. 

In Convention. Mr. Gouverneur Morris moved a 
proviso, " that taxation shall be in proportion to representa- 
tion." 

Mr. Butler contended again, that representation should 
be according to the full number of inhabitants, including all 
the blacks ; admitting the justice of Mr. Gouverneur Mor- 
ris's motion. 

General Pinckney was alarmed at what was said yester- 
day, [by Gouverneur Morris,] concerning the negroes. 
He was now again alarmed at what had been thrown out con- 
cerning the taxing of exports. South Carolina has ii» one 
year exported to the amount of £600,000 sterling, all which 
was the fruit of the labor of her blacks. Will she be repre- 
sented in proportion to this amount ? She will not. Neither 
ought she then to be subject to a tax on it. He hoped a clause 
would be inserted in the system, restraining the Legislature 
from taxing exports. 

Mr. Wilson approved the principle, but could not see how 
it could be carried into execution, unless restrained to direct 
taxation. * 

Mr. Gouverneur Morris having so varied his motion by 
inserting the word " direct," it passed, nem. con., as follows : 

* Mr. Carroll said in explanation of the vote of Maryland, that he wished 
the phraseology to be so altered as to obviate, if possible, the danger which 
had been expressed of giving umbrage to the Eastern and Middle States. 

* 3* 



30 THE CONSTITUTION 

" provided always that direct taxation ought to be proportioned 
to representation." 

Mr. Davie said it was high time now to speak out. He 
saw that it was meant by some gentlemen to deprive the 
Southern States of any share of representation for their blacks. 
He was sure that North Carolina would never confederate on 
any terms that did not rate them at least as three fifths. If 
ihe Eastern States meant, therefore, to exclude them alto- 
gether, the business was at an end. 

Dr. Johnson thought that wealth and population were the 
-true, equitable rules of representation ; but he conceived that 
these two principles resolved themselves into one, population 
being the best measure of wealth. He concluded, therefore, 
that the number of people ought to be established as the rule, 
•and that all descriptions, including blacks equally with the 
whites, ought to fall within the computation. As various 
opinions had been expressed on the subject, he would move 
that a committee might be appointed to take them into con- 
sideration, and report them. 

Mr. Gouverneur Morris. It had been said that it is 
higl^time to speak out. As one member, he would candidly 
do so. He came here to form a compact for the good of 
America. He was ready to do so with all the States. He 
hoped, and believed, that all would enter into such compact. 
If they would not, he was ready to join with any States that 
would. But as the compact was to be voluntary, it is in vain 
for the Eastern States to insist on what the Southern States 
will never agree to. It is equally vain for the latter to re- 
quire what the other States can never admit ; and he verily 
•.believed the people of Pennsylvania will never agree to a 
representation of negroes. What can be desired by these 
States more than has been already proposed — that the Legis- 
lature shall from time to time regulate representation accord- 
ing to population and wealth ? 

General Pinckney desired that the rule of wealth should 
be ascertained, and not left to the pleasure of the Legislature ; 



A PRO-SLAVERY COMPACT. 31 

and that property in slaves should not be exposed to danger, 
under a government instituted for the protection of property. 

The first clause in the Report of the first Grand Committee 
was postponed. 

Mr. Ellsworth, in order to carry into effect the principle 
established, moved to add to the last clause adopted by the 
House the words following : " and that the rule of contribution 
by direct taxation, for the support of the Government of the 
United States, shall be the number of white inhabitants, and 
three fifths of every other description in the several States, 
until some other rule, that shall more accurately ascertain the 
wealth of the several States, can be devised and adopted by 
the Legislature." 

Mr. Butler seconded the motion, in order that it might be 
committed. 

Mr. Randolph was not satisfied with the motion. The 
danger will be revived, that the ingenuity of the Legislature 
may evade or pervert the rule, so as to perpetuate the power 
where it shall be lodged in the first instance. He proposed, 
in lieu of Mr. Ellsworth's motion, " that in order to ascer- 
tain the alterations in representation that may be required, 
from time to time, by changes in the relative circumstances 
of the States, a census shall be taken within two years from 
the first meeting of the General Legislature of the United 
States, and once within the term of every years after- 
wards, of all the inhabitants, in the manner and according to 
the ratio recommended by Congress in their Resolution of the 
eighteenth day of April, 1783, (rating the blacks at three 
fifths of their number ;) and that the Legislature of the Unit- 
ed States shall arrange the representation accordingly." He 
urged strenuously that express security ought to be provided 
for including slaves in the ratio of representation. He lament- 
ed that such a species of property existed. But as it did 
exist, the holders of it would require this security. It was 
perceived that the design was entertained by some of exclud- 
ing slaves altogether ; the Legislature therefore ought not to 
be left at liberty. 



32 THE CONSTITUTION 

Mr. Ellsworth withdraws his motion, and seconds that 
of Mr. Randolph. 

Mr. Wilson observed, that less umbrage would perhaps » 
be taken against an admission of the slaves into the rule of 
representation, if it should be so expressed as to make them 
indirectly only an ingredient in the rule, by saying that they 
should enter into the rule of taxation ; and as representation 
was to be according to taxation, the end would be equally 
attained. 

Mr. Pinckney moved to amend Mr. Randolph's motion, 
so as to make " blacks equal to the whites in the ratio of rep- 
resentation." This, he urged, was nothing more than justice. 
The blacks are the laborers, the peasants, of the Southern 
States. They are as productive of pecuniary resources as 
those of the Northern States. They add equally to the wealth, 
and, considering money as the sinew of war, to the strength, 
of the nation. It will also be politic with regard to the North- 
ern States, as taxation is to keep pace with representation. 

On Mr. Pinckney's (of South Carolina) motion, for rating 
blacks as equal to whites, instead of as three fifths : South 
Carolina, Georgia, aye — 2 ; Massachusetts, Connecticut, 
(Doctor Johnson, aye,) New Jersey, Pennsylvania, (three 
against two,) Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, 
no — 8. 

Mr. Randolph's (of Virginia) proposition, as varied by 
Mr. Wilson (of Pennsylvania) being read for taking the 
question on the whole, — - 

Mr. Gerry (of Massachusetts) urged that the principle of 
it could not be carried into execution, as the States were not 
to be taxed as States. With regard to taxes on imposts, he 
conceived they would be more productive where there were 
no slaves, than where there were; the consumption being 
greater. 

Mr. Ellsworth, (of Connecticut.) In the case of a poll 
tax there would be no difficulty. But there would probably 
be none. The sum allotted to a State may be levied without 



A PRO-SLAVERY COMPACT. 33 

difficulty, according to the plan used by the State in raising 
its own supplies. 

On the question on the whole proposition, as proportioning 
representation to direct taxation, and both to the white and 
three fifths of the black inhabitants, and requiring a census 
within six years, and within every ten years afterwards : 
Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, North Caro- 
lina, Georgia, aye — 6 ; New Jersey, Delaware, no — 2 ; 
Massachusetts, South Carolina, divided. — pp. 1079 to 1087. 

Friday, July 13, 1787. 

Mr. Madison said, that having always conceived that the 
difference of interest in the United States lay not between the 
large and small, but the Northern and Southern States. — 
p. 1088. 

On the motion of Mr. Randolph, (of Virginia,) the vote 
of Monday last, authorizing the Legislature to adjust, from 
time to time, the representation upon the principles of wealth 
and numbers of inhabitants, was reconsidered by common 
consent, in order to strike out wealth, and adjust the resolution 
to that requiring periodical revisions according to the number 
of whites and three fifths of the blacks. 

Mr. Gouverneur Morris (of Pennsylvania) opposed the 
alteration, as leaving still an incoherence. If negroes were to 
be viewed as inhabitants, and the revision was to proceed on 
the principle of numbers of inhabitants, they ought to be add- 
ed in their entire number, and not in the proportion of three 
fifths. If as property, the word wealth was right ; and strik- 
ing it out would produce the very inconsistency which it was 
meant to get rid of. The train of business, and the late turn 
which it had taken, had led him, he said, into deep meditation 
on it, and he would candidly state the result. A distinction 
had been set up, and urged, between the Northern and South- 
ern States. He had hitherto considered this doctrine as heret- 
ical. He still thought the distinction groundless. He sees, 
however, that it is persisted in ; and the Southern gentlemen 
will not be satisfied, unless they see the way open to their 



34 THE CONSTITUTION 

gaining a majority in the public councils. The consequence 
of such a transfer of power from the maritime to the interior 
and landed interest will, he foresees, be such an oppression to 
commerce, that he shall be obliged to vote for the vicious prin- 
ciple of equality in the second branch, in order to provide 
some defence for the Northern States against it. But to come 
more to the point, either this distinction is fictitious or real ; 
if fictitious, let it be dismissed, and let us proceed with due 
confidence. If it be real, instead of attempting to blend in- 
compatible things, let us at once take a friendly leave of each 
other. There can be no end of demands for security, if ev- 
ery particular interest is to be entitled to it. The Eastern 
States may claim it for their fishery, and for other objects, as 
the Southern States claim it for their peculiar objects. In 
this struggle between the two ends of the Union, what part 
ought the Middle States, in point of policy, to take ? To join 
their Eastern brethren, according to his ideas. If the South- 
ern States get the power into their hands, and be joined, as 
they will be, with the interior country, they will inevitably 
bring on a war with Spain for the Mississippi. This language 
is already held. The interior country, having no property nor 
interest exposed on the sea, will be little affected by such a 
war. He wished to know what security the Northern and 
Middle States will have against this danger ? It has been 
said that North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia only, 
will in a little time have a majority of the people of America. 
They must in that case include the great interior country, and 
every thing was to be apprehended from their getting the 
power into their hands. 

Mr. Butler, (of South Carolina.) The security the South- 
ern States want is, that their negroes may not be taken from 
them, which some gentlemen within or without doors have a 
very good mind to do. It was not supposed that North Car- 
olina, South Carolina, and Georgia, would have more people 
than all the other States, but many more relatively to the 
other States than they now have. The people and strength 



A PRO-SLAVERY COMPACT. 35 

of America are evidently bearing southwardly, and south- 
westwardly. 

On the question to strike out wealth, and to make the change 

as moved by Mr. Randolph, (of Virginia,) it' passed in the 

affirmative : Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Jersey, Penn- 

, sylvania, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, 

Georgia, aye — 9 ; Delaware, divided. — pp. 1090-1-2-3-4.. 

Saturday, July 14, 1787. 

Mr. MADtsON. It seemed now to be pretty well under- *' 
stood, that the real difference of interests lay, not between the 
large and small, but between the Northern and Southern, 
States. THE INSTITUTION OF SLAVERY, AND 
ITS CONSEQUENCES, FORMED THE LINE OF - 
DISCRIMINATION. — p. 1104. 

Tuesday, July 17, 1787. 

Mr. Williamson. The largest State will be sure to suc- 
ceed. This will not be Virginia, however. Her slaves will 
have no suffrage. — p. 1123. 

Thursday, July 19, 1787. 

Mr. Madison. The right of suffrage was much more dif- 
fusive in the Northern than the Southern States ; and the 
latter could have no influence in the election, on the score of 
the negroes. — p. 1148. 

Monday, July 23, 1787. 

General Pinckney reminded the Convention, that if the 
Committee should fail to insert some security to the Southern 
States against an emancipation of slaves, and taxes on exports, 
he should be bound by duty to his State to vote against their 
report. — p. 1187. 

Tuesday, July 24, 1787. 

Mr. Williamson. As the Executive is to have a kind of 
veto on the laws, and there is an essential difference of inter- 
ests between the Northern and Southern States, particularly 
in the carrying trade, the power will be dangerous, if the Ex- 
ecutive is to be taken from part of the Union, to the part from 
which he is not taken. — p. 1189. 



36 THE CONSTITUTION 

Mr. Gouverneur Morris hoped the Committee would 
strike out the whole of the clause proportioning direct taxation 
to representation. He had only meant it as a bridge * to as- 
sist us over a certain gulf; having passed the gulf, the bridge 
may be removed. He thought the principle laid down with 
so much strictness liable to strong objections. — p. 1197. 

Wednesday, July 25, 1787. 

Mr. Madison. Refer the appointment of the National 
Executive to the State Legislatures, and * * * 

The remaining mode was an election by the people, or rath- 
er by the qualified part of them at large. * * * 

The second difficulty arose from the disproportion of quali- 
fied voters in the Northern and Southern States, and the 
disadvantages which this mode would throw on the latter. 
The answer to this objection was — in the first place, that this 
disproportion would be continually decreasing under the influ- 
ence of the republican laws introduced in the Southern States, 
and the more rapid increase of their population ; in the second 
place, that local considerations must give way to the general 
interest. As an individual from the Southern States, he was 
willing to make the sacrifice. — pp. 1200-1. 

Thursday, July 26, 1787. 

Mr. Gouverneur Morris. Revenue will be drawn, it is 
foreseen, as much as possible from trade. — p. 1217. 

Monday, August 6, 1787. 

Mr. Rutledge delivered in the Report of the Committee 
of Detail. 

ARTICLE VII. 

Sect. 3. The proportions of direct taxation shall be reg- 
ulated by the whole number of white and other free citizens 
and inhabitants of every age, sex, and condition, including 
those bound to servitude for a term of years, and three fifths 
of all other persons not comprehended in the foregoing de- 

* The object was to lessen the eagerness, on one side, for, and the opposi- 
tion, on the other, to the share of representation claimed by the Southern 
States on account of the negroes. 



A PRO-SLAVERY COMPACT. 37 

scription, (except Indians not paying taxes ;) which number 
shall, within six years after the first meeting of the Legisla- 
ture, and within the term of every ten years afterwards, be 
taken in such a manner as the said Legislature shall direct. 

Sect. 4. No tax or duty shall be laid by the Legislature 
on articles exported from any State ; nor on the migration or 
importation of such persons as the several States shall think 
proper to admit ; nor shall such migration or importation be 
prohibited. 

Sect. 5. No capitation tax shall be laid, unless in propor- 
tion to the census herein before directed to be taken. 

Sect. 6. No navigation act shall be passed without the 
assent of two thirds of the members present in each House. — 
pp. 1226-33-34. 

Wednesday, August 8, 1787. 

Mr. King wished to know what influence the vote just 
passed was meant to have on the succeeding part of the Re- 
port, concerning the admission of slaves into the rule of rep- 
resentation. He could not reconcile his mind to the Article, 
if it was to prevent objections to the latter part. The admis- 
sion of slaves was a most grating circumstance to his mind, 
and he believed would be so to a great part of the people of 
America. He had not made a strenuous opposition to it here- 
tofore, because he had hoped that this concession would have 
produced a readiness, which had not been manifested, to 
strengthen the General Government, and to mark a full con- 
fidence in it. The Report under consideration had, by the 
tenor of it, put an end to all those hopes. In two great points 
the hands of the Legislature were absolutely tied. The im- 
portation of slaves could not be prohibited. Exports could 
not be taxed. Is this reasonable ? What are the great ob- 
jects of the general system ? First, defence against foreign 
invasion; secondly, against internal sedition. Shall all the 
States, then, be bound to defend each, and shall each be at 
liberty to introduce a weakness which will render defence 
more difficult ? Shall one part of the United States be bound 
4 



38 THE CONSTITUTION 

to defend another part, and that other part be at liberty not 
only to increase its own danger, but to withhold the compen- 
sation for the burden ? If slaves are to be imported, shall 
not the exports produced by their labor supply a revenue the 
better to enable the General Government to defend their mas- 
ters ? There was so much inequality and unreasonableness 
in all this, that the people of the Northern States could never 
be reconciled to it. No candid man could undertake to justify 
it to them. He had hoped that some accommodation would 
have taken place on this subject ; that at least a time would 
have been limited for the importation of slaves. He never 
could agree to let them be imported without limitation, and 
then be represented in the National Legislature. Indeed, he 
could so little persuade himself of the rectitude of such a 
practice, that he was not sure he could assent to it under any 
circumstances. At all events, either slaves should not be rep- 
resented, or exports should be taxable. 

Mr. Sherman regarded the slave trade as iniquitous ; but 
the point of representation having been settled after much 
difficulty and deliberation, he did not think himself bound 
to make opposition ; especially as the present Article, "as 
amended, did not preclude any arrangement whatever on 
that point in another place of the report. 

Mr. Gouverneur Morris moved to insert " free " before 
the word " inhabitants." Much, he said, would depend on this 
point. He never would concur in upholding domestic sla- 
very. It was a nefarious institution. It was the curse of 
Heaven on the States where it prevailed. Compare the free 
regions of the Middle States, where a rich and noble cultiva- 
tion marks the prosperity and happiness of the people, with 
the misery and poverty which overspread the barren wastes 
of Virginia, Maryland, and the other States having slaves. 
Travel through the whole continent, and you behold the 
prospect continually varying with the appearance and disap- 
pearance of slavery. The moment you leave the Eastern 
States, and enter New York, the effects of the institution 



A PRO-SLAVERY COMPACT. 39 

become visible. Passing through the Jerseys, and entering 
Pennsylvania, every criterion of superior improvement wit- 
nesses the change. Proceed southwardly, and every step 
you take, through the great regions of slaves, presents a 
desert increasing with the increasing proportion of these 
wretched beings. Upon what principle is it that the slaves 
shall be computed in the representation ? Are they men ? 
Then make them citizens, and let them vote. Are they prop- 
erty ? Why, then, is no other property included ? The houses 
in this city (Philadelphia) are worth more than all the wretch- 
ed slaves who cover the rice swamps of South Carolina. The 
admission of slaves into the representation, when fairly ex- 
plained, comes to this : that the inhabitant of Georgia and 
South Carolina who goes to the coast of Africa, and, in defi- 
ance of the most sacred laws of humanity, tears away his fel- 
low-creatures from their dearest connections, and damns them 
to the most cruel bondage, shall have more votes in a govern- 
ment instituted for protection of the rights of mankind, than 
the citizen of Pennsylvania or New Jersey who views with 
a laudable horror so nefarious a practice. He would add, that 
domestic slavery is the most prominent feature in the aristo- 
cratic countenance of the proposed Constitution. The vas- 
salage of the poor has ever been the favorite offspring of 
aristocracy. And what is the proposed compensation to the 
Northern States for a sacrifice of every principle of right, of 
every impulse of humanity ? They are to bind themselves to 
march their militia for the defence of the Southern States, for 
their defence against those very slaves of whom they com- 
plain. They must supply vessels and seamen, in case of for- 
eign attack. The Legislature will have indefinite power to 
tax them by excises, and duties on imports ; both of which 
will fall heavier on them than on the Southern inhabitants ; 
for the bohea tea used by a Northern freeman will pay more 
tax than the whole consumption of the miserable slave, which 
consists of nothing more than his physical subsistence and the 
rag that covers his nakedness. On the other side, the South- 



40 THE CONSTITUTION 

ern States are not to be restrained from importing fresh sup- 
plies of wretched Africans, at once to increase the danger of 
attack, and the difficulty of defence ; nay, they are to be en- 
couraged to it by an assurance of having their votes in the 
National Government increased in proportion ; and are, at the 
same time, to have their exports and their slaves exempt from 
all contributions for the public service. Let it not be said that 
direct taxation is to be proportioned to representation. It is 
idle to suppose that the General Government can stretch its 
hand directly into the pockets of the people, scattered over so 
vast a country. They can only do it through the medium of 
exports, imports, and excises. For what, then, are all the sac- 
rifices to be made ? He would sooner submit himself to a tax 
for paying for all the negroes in the United States, than saddle 
posterity with such a Constitution. 

Mr. Dayton seconded the motion. He did it, he said, that 
his sentiments on the subject might appear, whatever might be 
the fate of the amendment. 

Mr. Sherman did not regard the admission of the negroes 
into the ratio of representation as liable to such insuperable 
objections. It was the freemen of the Southern States who 
were, in fact, to be represented according to the taxes paid by 
them, and the negroes are only included in the estimate of the 
taxes. This was his idea of the matter. 

Mr. Pinckney considered the fisheries, and the western 
frontier, as more burdensome to the United States than the 
slaves. He thought this could be demonstrated, if the occa- 
sion were a proper one. 

Mr. Wilson thought the motion premature. An agree- 
ment to the clause would be no bar to the object of it. 

On the question, on the motion to insert " free " before " in- 
habitants " : New Jersey, aye — 1 ; New Hampshire, Massa- 
chusetts, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, 
Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, no — 10. 
— pp. 1261-2-3-4-5-6. 



A PRO-SLAVERY COMPACT. 41 

Thursday, August 16, 1787. 

Mr. Mason urged the necessity of connecting with the 
powers of levying taxes, duties, &c, the prohibition in Arti- 
cle 6, Section 4-, " that no tax should be laid on exports." 

He hoped the Northern States did not mean to deny the 
Southern this security. 

Mr. Gouverneur Morris considered such a proviso as 
inadmissible any where. 

Mr. Madison. Fourthly, the Southern States, being most 
in danger and most needing naval protection, could the less 
complain if the burden should be somewhat heaviest On them. 
And finally, we are not providing for the present moment 
only ; and time will equalize the situation of the States in this 
matter. He was, for these reasons, against the motion. 

Mr. Mercer. It had been said the Southern States had 
most need of naval protection. The reverse was the case. 
Were it not for promoting the carrying trade of the Northern 
States, the Southern States could let the trade go into foreign 
bottoms, where it would not need our protection. — pp. 1339- 
40-41-42. 

Tuesday, August 21, 1787. 

Article 7, Section 3, was then resumed. 

Mr. Dickinson moved to postpone this, in order to recon- 
sider Article 4, Section 4, and to limit the number of Repre- 
sentatives to be allowed to the large States. Unless this were 
done, the small States would be reduced to entire insignifi- 
cance, and encouragement given to the importation of slaves. 

Mr. Sherman would agree to such a reconsideration ; but 
did not see the necessity of postponing the section before the 
House. Mr. Dickinson withdrew his motion. 

Article 7, Section 3, was then agreed to : ten ayes ; Del- 
aware alone, no. — p. 1379. 

Article 7, Section 4, was then taken up. 

Mr. Langdon. By this section, the States are left at lib- 
erty to tax exports. This could not be admitted. It seems 
to be feared that the Northern States will oppress the trade 
4# 



42 THE CONSTITUTION 

of the Southern. This may be guarded against by requiring 
the concurrence of two thirds, or three fourths, of the Legis- 
lature in such cases. — pp. 1382-3. 

Mr. Madison. As to the fear of disproportionate burdens 
on the more exporting States, it might be remarked that it 
was agreed, on all hands, that the revenue would principally 
be drawn from trade. — p. 1385. 

Colonel Mason. A majority, when interested, will oppress 
the minority. 

If we compare the States in this point of view, the eight 
Northern States have an interest different from the five South- 
ern States ; and have, in one branch of the Legislature, thirty- 
six votes against twenty-nine, and in the other in the propor- 
tion of eight against five. The Southern States had therefore 
ground for their suspicions. The case of exports was not the 
same with that of imports. — pp. 1386-7. 

Mr. L. Martin proposed to vary Article 7, Section 4, so as 
to allow a prohibition or tax on the importation of slaves. In 
the first place, as five slaves are to be counted as three freemen 
in the apportionment of Representatives, such a clause would 
leave an encouragement to this traffic. In the second place, 
slaves weakened one part of the Union, which the other parts 
were bound to protect ; the privilege of importing them was 
therefore unreasonable. And in the third place, it was incon- 
sistent with the principles of the Revolution, and dishonorable 
to the American character, to have such a feature in the Con- 
stitution. 

Mr. Rutledge did not see how the importation of slaves 
could be encouraged by this section. He was not apprehen- 
sive of insurrections, and would readily exempt the other 
States from the obligation to protect the Southern against 
them. Religion and humanity had nothing to do with this 
question. Interest alone is the governing principle with na- 
tions. The true question at present is, whether the Southern 
States shall or shall not be parties to the Union. If the North- 
ern States consult their interest, they will not oppose the in- 



A PRO-SLAVERY COMPACT. 43 

crease of slaves, which will increase the commodities of which 
they will become the carriers. 

Mr. Ellsworth was for leaving the clause as it stands. 
Let every State import what it pleases. The morality or wis- 
dom of slavery are considerations belonging to the States them- 
selves. What enriches a part enriches the whole, and the 
States are the best judges of their particular interest. The 
Old Confederation had not meddled with this point ; and he 
did not see any greater necessity for bringing it within the 
policy of the new one. 

Mr. Pinckney. South Carolina can never receive the 
plan, if it prohibits the slave trade. In every proposed ex- 
tension of the powers of Congress, that State has expressly 
and watchfully excepted that of meddling with the importa- 
tion of negroes. If the States be all left at liberty on this 
subject, South Carolina may, perhaps, by degrees, do of her- 
self what is wished, £s Virginia and Maryland already have 
done. Adjourned. — pp. 1388-9. 

Wednesday, August 22, 1787. 

In Convention. Article 7, Section 4, was resumed. 

Mr. Sherman was for leaving the clause as it stands. He 
disapproved of the slave trade ; yet as the States were now 
possessed of the right to import slaves, as the public good did 
not require it to be taken from them, and as it was expedient 
to have as few objections as possible to the proposed scheme 
of government, he thought it best to leave the matter as we 
find it. He observed, that the abolition of slavery seemed to 
be going on in the United States, and that the good sense of 
the several States would probably by degrees complete it. 
•He urged on the Convention the necessity of despatching its 
business. 

Colonel Mason. This infernal traffic originated in the 
avarice of British merchants. The British Government con- 
stantly checked the attempts of Virginia to put a stop to it. 
The present question concerns not the importing States alone, 
but the whole Union. The evil of having slaves was expe- 



44 THE CONSTITUTION 

rienced during the late war. Had slaves been treated as they 
might have been by the enemy, they would have proved dan- 
gerous instruments in their hands. But their folly dealt by 
the slaves as it did by the tories. He mentioned the danger- 
ous insurrections of the slaves in Greece and Sicily, and the 
instructions given by Cromwell to the commissioners sent to 
Virginia, to arm the servants and slaves, in case other means 
of obtaining its submission should fail. Maryland and Vir- 
ginia, he said, had already prohibited the importation of slaves 
expressly. North Carolina had done the same in substance. 
All this would be in vain, if South Carolina and Georgia be at 
liberty to import. The Western people are already calling 
out for slaves for their new lands, and will fill that country 
with slaves, if they can be got through South Carolina and 
Georgia. Slavery discourages arts and manufactures. The 
poor despise labor when performed by slaves. They prevent 
the emigration of whites, who really enrich and strengthen a 
country. They produce the most pernicious effect on man- 
ners. Every master of slaves is born a petty tyrant. They 
bring the judgment of Heaven on a country. As nations 
cannot be rewarded or punished in the next world, they must 
be in this. By an inevitable chain of causes and effects, 
Providence punishes national sins by national calamities. He 
lamented that some of our Eastern brethren had, from a lust 
of gain, embarked in this nefarious traffic. As to the States 
being in possession of the right to import, this was the case 
with many other rights, nQW to be properly given up. He 
held it essential, in every point of view, that the General 
Government should have power to prevent the increase of 
slavery. 

Mr. Ellsworth, as he had never owned a slave, could 
not judge of the effects of slavery on character. He said, 
however, that if it was to be considered in a moral light, we 
ought to go further, and free those already in the country. As 
slaves also multiply so fast in Virginia and Maryland that it 
is cheaper to raise than import them, whilst in the sickly rice 



A PRO-SLAVERY COMPACT. 45 

swamps foreign supplies are necessary, if we go no further 
than is urged, we shall be unjust towards South Carolina and 
Georgia. Let us not intermeddle. As population increases, 
poor laborers will be so plenty as to render slaves useless. 
Slavery, in time, will not be a speck in our country. Provis- 
ion is already made in Connecticut for abolishing it. And the 
abolition has already taken place in Massachusetts. As to 
the danger of insurrections from foreign influence, that will 
become a motive to kind treatment of the slaves. 

Mr. Pinckney. If slavery be wrong, it is justified by the s 
example of all the world. He cited the case of Greece, 
Rome, and other ancient States ; the sanction given by 
France, England, Holland, and other modern States. In all 
ages, one half of mankind have been slaves. If the Southern 
States were let alone, they will probably of themselves stop 
importations. He would himself, as a citizen of South Caro- 
lina, vote for it. An attempt to take away the right, as pro- 
posed, will produce serious objections to the Constitution, 
which he wished to see adopted. 

Gen. Pinckney declared it to be his firm opinion that if * 
himself and all his colleagues were to sign the Constitution, 
and use their personal influence, it would be of no avail 
towards obtaining the assent of their constituents. South N 
Carolina and Georgia cannot do without slaves. As to Vir- 
ginia, she will gain by stopping the importations. Her slaves 
will rise in value, and she has more than she wants. It would 
be unequal to require South Carolina and Georgia to confed- 
erate on such unequal terms. He said the Royal assent, be- 
fore the Revolution, had never been refused to South Carolina, 
as to Virginia. He contended that the importation of slaves 
would be for the interest of the whole Union. The more 
slaves, the more produce to employ the carrying trade ; the 
more consumption also ; and the more of this, the more rev- 
enue for the common treasury. He admitted it to be reason- 
able that slaves should be dutied like other imports; but 
should consider a rejection of the clause as an exclusion of 
South Carolina from the Union. 



46 THE CONSTITUTION 

Mr. Baldwin had conceived national objects alone to be 
before the Convention ; not such as, like the present, were of 
a local nature. Georgia was decided on this point. That 
State has always hitherto supposed a General Government to 
be the pursuit of the central States, who wished to have a 
vortex for every thing ; that her distance would preclude her 
from equal advantage ; and that she could not prudently pur- 
chase it by yielding national powers. From this it might be 
understood in what light she would view an attempt to abridge 
one of her favorite prerogatives. If left to herself, she may 
probably put a stop to the evil. As one ground for this con- 
jecture, he took notice of the sect of , which he said 

was a respectable class of people, who carried their ethics 
beyond the mere equality of men, extending their humanity 
to the claims of the whole animal creation. 

Mr. Wilson observed that if South Carolina and Georgia 
were themselves disposed to get rid of the importation of 
slaves in a short time, as had been suggested, they would 
never refuse to unite because the importation might be pro- 
hibited. As the section now stands, all articles imported are 
to be taxed. Slaves alone are exempt. This is in fact a 
bounty on that article. 

Mr. Gerry thought we had nothing to do with the conduct 
of the States as to slaves, but ought to be careful not to give 
any sanction to it. 

Mr. Dickinson considered it as inadmissible, on every 
principle of honor and safety, that the importation of slaves 
should be authorized to the States by the Constitution. The 
true question was, whether the national happiness would be 
promoted or impeded by the importation ; and this question 
ought to be left to the National Government, not to the States 
particularly interested. If England and France permit sla- 
very, slaves are, at the same time, excluded from both those 
kingdoms. Greece and Rome were made unhappy by their 
slaves. He could not believe that the Southern States would 
refuse to confederate on the account apprehended j especially 



A PRO-SLAVERY COMPACT. 47 

as the power was not likely to be immediately exercised by 
the General Government. 

Mr. Williamson stated the law of North Carolina on the 
subject, to wit, that it did not directly prohibit the importation 
of slaves. It imposed a duty of £5 on each slave imported 
from Africa ; £10 on each from elsewhere ; and £50 on each 
from a State licensing manumission. He thought the South- 
ern States could not be members of the Union, if the clause 
should be rejected ; and that it was wrong to force any thing 
down not absolutely necessary, and which any State must dis- 
agree to. 

Mr. Kino thought the subject should be considered in a 
political light only. If two States will not agree to the Con- 
stitution, as stated on one side, he could affirm, with equal 
belief, on the other, that great and equal opposition would be 
experienced from the other States. He remarked on the ex- 
emption of slaves from duty, whilst every other import was 
subjected to it, as an inequality that could not fail to strike 
the commercial sagacity of the Northern and Middle States. 

Mr. Langdon was strenuous for giving the power to the 
General Government. He could not, with a good conscience, 
leave it with the States, who could then go on with the traffic, 
without being restrained by the opinions here given, that they 
will themselves cease to import slaves. 

Gen. Pinckney thought himself bound to declare candidly 
that he did not think South Carolina would stop her importa- 
tion of slaves in any short time, but only stop them occasion- 
ally, as she now does. He moved to commit the clause, that 
slaves might be made liable to an equal tax with other im- 
ports ; which he thought right, and which would remove one 
difficulty that had been started. 

Mr. Rutledoe. If the Convention thinks that North 
Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia, will ever agree to the 
plan, unless their right to import slaves be untouched, the ex- 
pectation is vain. The people of those States will never be 
such fools as to give up so important an interest* He was 



48 THE CONSTITUTION 

strenuous against striking out the section, and seconded the 
motion of Gen. Pinckney for a commitment. 

Mr. Gouverneur Morris wished the whole subject to be 
committed, including the clauses relating to taxes on exports 
and to a navigation act. These things may form a bargain 
among the Northern and Southern States. 

Mr. Butler declared that he never would agree to the 
power of taxing exports. 

Mr. Sherman said it was better to let the Southern States 
import slaves, than to part with them, if they made that a 
sine qua non. He was opposed to a tax on slaves imported, 
as making the matter worse, because it implied they were 
property. He acknowledged that if the power of prohibiting 
the importation should be given to the General Government, 
it would be exercised. He thought it would be its duty to 
exercise the power. 

Mr. Read was for the commitment, provided the clause 
concerning taxes on exports should also be committed. 

Mr. Sherman observed that that clause had been agreed 
to, and therefore could not be committed. 

Mr. Randolph was for committing, in order that some 
middle ground might, if possible, be found. He could never 
agree to the clause as it stands. He would sooner risk the 
Constitution. He dwelt on the dilemma to which the Con- 
vention was exposed. By agreeing to the clause, it would 
revolt the Quakers, the Methodists, and many others in the 
States having no slaves. On the other hand, two States might 
be lost to the Union. Let us, then, he said, try the chance of 
a commitment. 

On the question for committing the remaining part of Sec- 
tions 4 and 5 of Article 7 : Connecticut, New Jersey, Mary- 
land, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, aye 
— 7 ; New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Delaware, no — 3 ; 
Massachusetts absent. 

Mr. Pinckney and Mr. Langdon moved to commit Sec- 
tion 6, as to a navigation act by two thirds of each House. 



A PRO-SLAVERY COMPACT. 49 

Mr. Gorham did not see the propriety of it. Is it meant 
to require a greater proportion of votes ? He desired it to 
be remembered, that the Eastern States had no motive to 
union but a commercial one. They were able to protect 
themselves. They were not afraid of external danger, and 
did not need the aid of the Southern States. 

Mr. Wilson wished for a commitment, in order to reduce 
the proportion of votes required. 

Mr. Ellsworth was for taking the plan as it is. This 
widening of opinions had a threatening aspect. If we do not 
agree on this middle and moderate ground, he was afraid we 
should lose two States, with such others as may be disposed to 
stand aloof; should fly into a variety of shapes and directions, 
and most probably into several confederations, — and not with- 
out bloodshed. 

On the question for committing Section 6, as to a naviga- 
tion act, to a member from each State : New Hampshire, 
Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, 
North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, aye — 9 ; Connecti- 
cut, New Jersey, no — 2. 

The Committee appointed were .Messrs. Langdon, King, 
Johnson, Livingston, Clymer, Dickinson, L. Martin, 
Madison, Williamson, C. C. Pinckney, and Baldwin. 

To this Committee were referred also the two clauses above 
mentioned of the fourth and fifth sections of Article 7. — pp. 
1390 to 1397. 

Friday, August 24, 1787. 

In Convention. Governor Livingston, from the commit- 
tee of eleven, to whom were referred the two remaining 
clauses of the fourth section, and the fifth and sixth sections, 
of the seventh Article, delivered in the following Report : — 

" Strike out so much of the fourth section as was referred 
to the Committee, and insert, ' The migration or importation 
of such persons as the several States, now existing, shall think 
proper to admit, shall not be prohibited by the Legislature 
prior to the year 1800 ; but a tax or duty may be imposed on 
5 



50 THE CONSTITUTION 

such migration or importation, at a rate not exceeding the 
average of the duties laid on imports.' 

" The fifth Section to remain as in the Report. 

"The sixth Section to be stricken out." — p. 1415. 

Saturday, August 25, 1787. 

The Report of the Committee of eleven (see Friday, the 
24th) being taken up, — 

Gen. Pincknet moved to strike out the words " the year 
eighteen hundred," as the year limiting the importation of 
slaves ; and to insert the words " the year eighteen hundred 
and eight." 

Mr. Gorham seconded the motion. 

Mr. Madison. Twenty years will produce all the mis- 
chief that can be apprehended from the liberty to import 
slaves. So long a term will be more dishonorable to the 
American character than to say nothing about it in the Con- 
stitution. 

On the motion, which passed in the affirmative : New Hamp- 
shire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Maryland, North Carolina, 
South Carolina, Georgia, aye — 7 ; New Jersey, Pennsylva- 
nia, Delaware, Virginia, np — 4. 

Mr. Gouverneur Morris "was for making the clause 
read at once, " The importation of slaves in North Carolina, 
South Carolina, and Georgia shall not be prohibited, &c." 
This, he said, would be most fair, and would avoid the ambi- 
guity by which, under the power with regard to naturaliza- 
tion, the liberty reserved to the States might be defeated. He 
wished it to be known, also, that this part of the Constitution 
was a compliance with those States. If the change of lan- 
guage, however, should be objected to by the members from 
those States, he should not urge it. 

Col. Mason was not against using the term " slaves," but 
against naming North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia, 
lest it should give offence to the people of those States. 

Mr. Sherman liked a description better than the terms 
proposed, which had been declined by the old Congress, and 
were not pleasing to some people. 



A PRO-SLAVERY COMPACT. 51 

Mr. Cltmer concurred with Mr. Sherman. 

Mr. Williamson said, that both in opinion and practice 
he was against slavery ; but thought it more in favor of hu- 
manity, from a view of all circumstances, to let in South Car- 
olina and Georgia- on those terms, than to exclude them from 
the Union. 

Mr. Gouverneur Morris withdrew his motion. 

Mr. Dickinson wished the clause to be confined to the 
States which had not themselves prohibited the importation 
of slaves ; and for that purpose moved to amend the clause, 
so as to read, " The importation of slaves into such of the 
States as shall permit the same shall not be prohibited by the 
Legislature of the United States until the year 1808 ;" which 
was disagreed to, nem. con.* 

The first part of the Report was then agreed to, amended 
as follows : " The migration or importation of such persons as 
the several States now existing shall think proper to admit, 
shall not be prohibited by the Legislature prior to the year 
1808," — 

New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Maryland, 
North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, aye — 7 ; New 
Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Virginia, no — 4. 

Mr. Baldwin, in order to restrain and more explicitly de- 
fine " the average duty," moved to strike out of the second 
part the words " average of the duties laid on imports," and 
insert "common impost on articles not enumerated," which 
was agreed to, nem. con. 

Mr. Sherman was against this second part, as acknowledg- 
' ing men to be property, by taxing them as such under the 
character of slaves. 

Mr. King and Mr. Langdon considered this as the price 
of the first part. Gen. Pinckney admitted that it was so. 

Col. Mason. Not to tax will be equivalent to a bounty 
on the importation of slaves. 

• 
* In the printed Journals, Connecticut, Virginia, and Georgia voted in the 
affirmative. 



52 THE CONSTITUTION 

Mr. Gorham thought that Mr. Sherman should consider 
the duty, not as implying that slaves are property, but as a 
discouragement to the importation of them. 

Mr. Gouverneur Morris remarked that, as the clause 
now stands, it implies that the Legislature may tax freemen 
imported. 

Mr. Sherman, in answer to Mr. Gorham, observed that 
the smallness of the duty showed revenue to be the object, 
not the discouragement of the importation. 

Mr. Madison. thought it wrong to admit in the Constitu- 
tion the idea that there could be property in men. The rea- 
son of duties did not hold, as slaves are not, like merchan- 
dise, consumed, &c. 

Col. Mason, in answer to Mr. Gouverneur Morris. 
The provision, as it stands, was necessary for the case of con- 
victs, in order to prevent the introduction of them. 

It was finally agreed, nem. con., to make the clause read, 
" But a tax or duty may be imposed on such importation, not 
exceeding ten dollars for each person ; " and then the second 
part, as amended, was agreed to. — pp. 1427 to 30. 

Tuesday, August 28, 1787. 

Article 14 was then taken up.* 

General Pincknet was not satisfied with it. He seemed 
to wish some provision should be included in favor of prop- 
erty in slaves. 

On the question on Article 14: New Hampshire, Massa- 
chusetts, Connecticut, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, 
Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, aye — 9 ; South Caro- 
lina, no — 1 ; Georgia, divided- 
Article 15 t being then taken up, the words " high misde- 
meanor " were struck out, and the words " other crime " in- 

* [Article 14 was — The citizens of each State shall be entitled to all 
privileges and immunities of citizens in the several States. — Editor.] 

f [Article 15 was — Any person charged with treason, felony, or high mis- 
demeanor in any State, who shall flee from justice, and shall be found in any 
other State, shall, on demand of the Executive pow<*r of the State from which 
he fled, be delivered up and removed to the State having jurisdiction of the 
offence. — Editor.] 



A PRO-SLAVERY COMPACT. 53 

serted, in order to comprehend all proper cases ; it being 
doubtful whether "high misdemeanor" had not a technical 
meaning too limited. 

Mr. Butler and Mr. Pinckney moved to require "fugi- 
tive slaves and servants to be delivered up like criminals." 

Mr. Wilson. This would oblige the Executive of the 
State to do it, at the public expense. 

Mr. Sherman saw no more propriety in the public seizing 
and surrendering a slave or servant, than a horse. 

Mr. Butler withdrew his proposition, in order that some 
particular provision might be made, apart from this article. 

Article 15, as amended, was then agreed to, nem. con. — 
pp. 1447-8. 

Wednesday, August 29, 1787. 

Article 7, Section 6, by the Committee of Eleven reported 
to be struck out (see the twenty-fourth inst.) being now taken 
up,— 

Mr. Pinckney moved to postpone the Report, in favor of 
the following proposition : " That no act of the Legislature for 
the purpose of regulating the Commerce of the United States 
with foreign powers, among the several States, shall be passed 
without the assent of two thirds of the members of each 
House." He remarked that there were five distinct commer- 
cial interests. 

The power of regulating commerce was a pure concession 
on the part of the Southern States. They did not need the 
protection of the Northern States at present. — p. 1450. 

General Pinckney said it was the true interest of the 
Southern States to have no regulation of commerce ; but con- 
sidering the loss broiight on the commerce of the Eastern 
States by the Revolution, their liberal conduct towards the 
views * of South Carolina, and the interest the weak Southern 
States had in being united with the strong Eastern States, he 

* He meant the permission to import slaves. An understanding on the 
two subjects of navigation and slavery had taken place between those parts 
of the Union, which explains the vote on the motion pending, as well as 
the language of General Pinckney and others. 

5* 



54 THE CONSTITUTION 

thought it proper that no fetters should be imposed on the 
power of making commercial regulations, and that his con- 
stituents, though prejudiced against the Eastern States, would 
be reconciled to this liberality. He had, himself, he said, 
prejudices against the Eastern States before he came here, 
but would acknowledge that he had found them as liberal and 
candid as any men whatever. — p. 1451. 

Mr. Pinckney replied, that his enumeration meant the five 
minute interests. It still left the two great divisions of North- 
ern and Southern interests. 

Mr. Gouverneur Morris opposed the object of the mo- 
tion as highly injurious. A navy was essential to security, 
particularly of the Southern States. 

Mr. Williamson. As to the weakness of the Southern 
States, he was not alarmed on that account. The sickliness 
of their climate for invaders would prevent their being made 
an object. He acknowledged that he did not think the motion 
requiring two thirds necessary in itself; because if a majority 
of the Northern States should push their regulations too far, 
the Southern States would build ships for themselves ; but he 
knew the Southern people were apprehensive on this subject, 
and would be pleased with the precaution. 

Mr. Spaight was against the motion. The Southern States 
could at any time save themselves from oppression, by build- 
ing ships for their own use. — p. 1452. 

Mr. Butler differed from those who considered the rejec- 
tion of the motion as no concession on the part of the South- 
ern States. He considered the interest of these and of the 
Eastern States to be as different as the interests of Russia and 
Turkey. Being, notwithstanding, desirous of conciliating the 
affections of the Eastern States, he should vote against re- 
quiring two thirds instead of a majority. — p. 1453. 

Mr. Madison. He added, that the Southern States would 
derive an essential advantage, in the general security afford- 
ed by the increase of our maritime strength. He stated 
the vulnerable situation of them all, and of Virginia in par- 
ticular. 



A PRO-SLAVERY COMPACT. 55 

Mr. Rutledge was against the motion of his colleague. 
At the worst, a navigation act could bear hard a little while 
only on the Southern States. As we are laying the foundation 
for a great empire, we ought to take a permanent view of the 
subject, and not look at the present moment only. 

Mr. Gorham. The Eastern States were not led to strength- 
en the Union by fear for their own safety. 

He deprecated the consequences of disunion; but if it 
should take place, it was the Southern part of the Continent 
that had most reason to dread them. 

On the question to postpone, in order to take up Mr. Pinc'k- 
ney's motion : • 

Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia, aye — 4 ; 
New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Jersey, 
Pennsylvania, Delaware, South Carolina, no — 7. The Re- 
port of the Committee for striking out Section 6, requiring two 
thirds of each House to pass a navigation act, was then agreed 
to, nem. con. 

Mr. Butler moved to insert after Article 15, " If any per- 
son bound to service or labor in any of the United States, shall 
escape into another State, he or she shall not be discharged 
from such service or labor, in consequence of any regulations 
subsisting in the State to which they escape, but shall be de- 
livered up to the person justly claiming their service or labor," 
which was agreed to, nem. con. — pp. 1454-5-6. 

Thursday, August 30, 1787. 

Article 18, being taken up, 

On a question for striking out " domestic violence," and in- 
serting " insurrections," it passed in the negative : New Jer- 
sey, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, aye 
— 5 ; New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Pennsyl- 
vania, Delaware, Maryland, no — 6. — pp. 1466-7. 

Monday, September 10, 1787. 

Mr. Rutledge said he never could agree to give a power 
by which the articles relating to slaves might be altered by 
the States not interested in that property, and prejudiced 



56 THE CONSTITUTION ♦ 

against it. In order to obviate this objection, these words 
were added to the proposition : " provided that no amendments, 
which may be made prior to the year 1808, shall in any man- 
ner affect the fourth and fifth sections of the seventh Article." 
— p. 1536. 

Thursday, September 13, 1787. ' 

Article 1, Section 2. On motion of Mr. Randolph, the 
word " servitude " was struck out, and " service " unanimous- 
ly * inserted, the former being thought to express the condi- 
tion of slaves, and the latter the obligations of free persons. 

l\lr. Dickinson and Mr. Wilson moved to strike out, " and 
direct taxes," from Article 1, Section 2, as improperly placed 
in a clause relating merely to the Constitution of the House 
of Representatives. 

Mr. GouvernEur Morris. The insertion here was in 
consequence of what had passed on this point ; in order to ex- 
clude the appearance of counting the negroes in the represen- 
tation. The including of them may now be referred to the 
object of direct taxes, and incidentally only to that of repre- 
sentation. 

On the motion to strike out, " and direct taxes," from thic 
place : 

New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, aye — 3 ; New Hamp 
shire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Virginia 
North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, no — 8. — pp 
1569-70. 

• Saturday, September 15, 1787. 

Article 4, Section 2, (the third paragraph,) the term " legal- 
ly " was struck out ; and the words, " under the laws thereof," 
inserted after the word " State," in compliance with the wish 
of some who thought the term legal equivocal, and favoring 
the idea that slavery was legal in a moral view. — p. 1589. 

Mr. Gerry stated the objections which determined him to 
withhold his name from the Constitution : 1-2-3-4-5-6, that 

* See page 372 of the printed journal. 



A PRO-SLAVERY COMPACT. 



57 



three fifths of the blacks were to be represented as if they 
were freemen. — p. 1595. 



LIST OF MEMBERS 



OF THE FEDERAL CONVENTION WHO FORMED THE CONSTI- 
TUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 



From 




Attended 


New Hampshire, 


1 John Langdon, 
John Pickering, 


July 23, 1787 




2 Nicholas Gilman, 


" 23, 




. Benjamin West. 




Massachusetts, 


Francis Dana, 






Elbridge Gerry, 


May 29, 




3 Nath'l Gorham, 


" 28, 




4 Rufus King, 


" 25, 




Caleb Strong, 


" 28. 


Rhode Island, 


(No appointment.) 




Connecticut, 


5 W. S. Johnson, 


June 2, 




6 Roger Sherman, 


May 30, 




Oliver Ellsworth, 


" 29. 


New York, 


Robert Yates, 


" 25, 




7 Alex'r Hamilton, 


" 25, 




John Lansing, 


June 2. 


New Jersey, 


8 Wm. Livingston, 


" 5, 




9 David Brearly, 


May 25, 




Wm. C. Houston, 


" 25, 




10 Wm. Patterson, 


" 25, 




John Nielson, 






Abraham Clark, ' 






11 Jonathan Dayton, 


June 21. 


Pennsylvania, 


12 Benj. Franklin, 


May 28, 




13 Thos. Mifflin, 


" 28, 




14 Robert Morris, 


" 25, 




15 Geo. Clymer, 


" 28, 




16 Thos. Fitzsimons, 


« 25, 



58 



THE CONSTITUTION 



From 
Pennsylvania, 

Delaware, . 



Maryland, 



Virginia, 



North Carolina, 



South Carolina, 



Attended 
May 28, 1787. 
" 25, 
" 25. 
" 25, 
" 28, 
" 28, 
" 25, 
" 25. 
« 29, 



17 Jared Ingersoll, 

18 James Wilson, 

19 Gouv'r Morris, 

20 Geo. Reed, 

21 G. Bedford, Jr., 

22 John Dickinson, 

23 Richard Bassett, 

24 Jacob Broom, 

25 James M'Henry, 

26 Daniel of St. Tho. Jenifer, June 2, 

27 Daniel Carroll, July 9, 
, John F. Mercer, Aug. 6, 

Luther Martin, June 9. 

28 Geo. Washington, May 25, 
Patrick Henry, (declined.) 
Edmund Randolph, " 25, 

29 John Blair, " 25, 

30 Jas. Madison, Jr., " 25, 
George Mason, " 25, 
George Wythe, " 25, 
James McClurg, (in room 

of P. Henry,) " 25. 

Rich'd Caswell, (resigned.) 
Alex'r Martin, " 25, 

Wm. R. Davie, " 25, 

31 Wm. Blount, (in room of 

• R. Caswell,) June 20, 

Willie Jones, (declined.) 

32 R. D. Spaight, May 25, 

33 Hugh Williamson, (in 

room of W. Jones,) " 25. 

34 John Rutledge, " 25, 

35 Chas. C. Pinckney. " 25, 

36 Chas. Pinckney, " 25, 

37 Peirce Butler, " 25. 



A PRO-SLAVERY COMPACT. 59 

From Attended 

Georgia, 38 William Few, May 25, 1787. 

39 Abr'm Baldwin, June 11, 

William Pierce, May 31, 

George Walton. 

Wm. Houston, June 1, 

Naih'l Pendleton. 
Those with numbers before their names signed the 

Constitution, 39 

Those in italics never attended, 10 

Members who attended, but did not sign the Constitu- 
tion, 16 

— 65 



Extracts from a Speech of Luther Martin, (deliv- 
ered before the Legislature of Maryland,) one 
of the Delegates from Maryland to the Conven- 
tion that formed the Constitution of the United 
States. 

With respect to that part of the second section of the first 
Article, which relates to the apportionment of representation 
and direct faxation, there were considerable objections made 
to it, besides the great objection of inequality. — It was urged, 
that no principle could justify taking slaves into computation 
in apportioning the number of representatives a State should 
have in the government — That it involved the absurdity of 
increasing the power of a State in making laws for free men 
in proportion as that State violated the rights of freedom — 
That it might be proper to take slaves into consideration, when 
taxes were to be apportioned, because it had a tendency to 
discourage slavery ; but to take them into account in giving 
representation tended to encourage the slave trade, and to make 
it the interest of the States to continue that infamous traffic — 



60 THE CONSTITUTION 

That slaves could not be taken into account as men, or citizens, 
because they were not admitted to the rights of citizens, in the 
States which adopted or continued slavery — If they were to 
be taken into account as property, it was asked what peculiar 
circumstance should render this property (of all others the 
most odious in its nature) entitled to the high privilege of 
conferring consequence and power in the government to its 
possessors, rather than any other property : and why slaves 
should, as property, be ta*ken into account, rather than horses, 
cattle, mules, or any other species ; and it was observed by 
an honorable member from Massachusetts, that he considered 
it as dishonorable and humiliating to enter into compact with 
the slaves of the Southern States, as it would with the horses 
and mules of the Eastern. 

By the ninth section of this Article, the importation of such 
persons as any of the States now existing shall think proper 
to admit, shall not be prohibited prior to the year 1808, but a 
duty may be imposed on such importation, not exceeding ten 
dollars for each person. 

The design of this clause is to prevent the general govern- 
ment from prohibiting the importation of slaves ; but the same 
reasons which caused them to strike out the word " national," 
and not admit the word " stamps," influenced them here to 
guard against the word " slaves." They anxiously sought to 
avoid the admission of expressions which might be odious in 
the ears of Americans, although they were willing to admit 
into their system those things which the expressions signified ; 
and hence it is that the clause is so worded as really to au- 
thorize the general government to impose a duty of ten dol- 
lars on every foreigner who comes into a State to become a 
citizen, whether he comes absolutely free, or qualifiedly so as 
a servant ; although this is contrary to the design of the fram- 
ers, and the duty was only meant to extend to the importation 
of slaves. 

This clause was the subject of a great diversity of senti- 
ment in the Convention. As the system was reported by the 



A PRO-SLAVERY COMPACT. 61 

Committee of Detail, the provision was general, that such im- 
portation should not be prohibited, without confining it to any- 
particular period. This was rejected by eight States — Geor- 
gia, South Carolina, and, I think, North Carolina, voting for it. 

We were then told by the delegates of the first two of those 
States, that their States would never agree to a system, which 
put it in the power of the General Government to prevent the 
importation of slaves, and that they, as delegates from those 
States, must withhold their assent from such a system. 

A committee of one member from each State was chosen 
by ballot, to take this part of the system under their consid- 
eration, and to endeavor to agree upon some report which 
should reconcile those States. To this committee also was 
referred the following proposition, which had been reported 
by the Committee of Detail, to wit : " No navigation act shall 
be passed without the assent of two thirds of the members 
present in each house ; " a proposition which the staple and 
commercial States were solicitous to retain, lest their com- 
merce should be placed too much under the power of the 
Eastern States ; but which these last States were as anxious 
to reject. This committee, of which also I had the honor to 
be a member, met and took under their consideration the sub- 
jects committed to them. I found the Eastern States, not- 
withstanding their aversion to slavery, were very willing to 
indulge the Southern States, at least with a temporary liberty 
to prosecute the slave trade, provided the Southern States 
would in their turn gratify them, by laying no restriction on 
navigation acts ; and after a very little time, the committee, 
by a great majority, agreed on a report, by which the general 
government was to be prohibited from preventing the impor- 
tation of slaves for a limited time, and the restricted clause 
relative to navigation acts was to be omitted. 

This report was adopted by a majority of the Convention, 
but not without considerable opposition. 

It was said, we had just assumed a place among independ- 
ent nations, in consequence of our opposition to the attempts 
6 



62 THE CONSTITUTION 

of Great Britain to enslave us ; that this opposition was ground- 
ed upon the preservation of those rights to which God and 
Nature had entitled us, not in particular, but in common with 
all the rest of mankind ; that we had appealed to the Supreme 
Being for his assistance, as .the God of freedom, who could not 
but approve our efforts to preserve the rights which he had 
thus imparted to his creatures ; that now, when we had scarce- 
ly risen from our knees, from supplicating his mercy and pro- 
tection in forming our government over a free people, — a gov- 
ernment formed pretendedly on the principles of liberty, and 
for its preservation, — in that government to have a provision 
not only putting it out of its power to restrain and prevent the 
slave trade, everi encouraging that most infamous traffic, by 
giving the States the power and influence in the Union in 
proportion as they cruelly and wantonly sported with the 
rights of their fellow-creatures, ought to be considered as a 
solemn mockery of, and an insult to, that God whose protec- 
tion we had then implored, and could not fail to hold us up in 
detestation, and render us contemptible to every true friend 
of liberty in the world. It was said, it ought to be considered 
that national crimes can only be, and frequently are, punished 
in this world by national punishments ; and that, the contin- 
uance of the slave trade, and thus giving it a national sanc- 
tion and encouragement, ought to be considered as justly 
exposing us to the displeasure and vengeance of Him who is 
equally Lord of all, and who views with equal eye the poor 
African slave and his American master. 

It was urged, that by this system we were giving the Gen- 
eral Government full and absolute power to regulate com- 
merce, under which general power it would have a right to 
restrain, or totally prohibit, the slave trade : it must, there- 
fore, appear to the world absurd and disgraceful to the last 
degree, that we should except from the exercise of that power 
the only branch of commerce which is unjustifiable in its na- 
ture, and contrary to the rights of mankind. That, on the 
contrary, we ought rather to prohibit expressly in our Con- 



A PRO-SLAVERY COMPACT. bo 

stitution the further importation of slaves, and to authorize 
the General Government, from time to time, to make such 
regulations as should be thought most advantageous for the 
gradual abolition of slavery, and the emancipation of the 
slaves which are already in the States. That slavery is in- 
consistent with the genius of republicanism, and has a ten- 
dency to destroy those principles on which it is supported, as 
it lessens the sense of the equal rights of mankind, and habit- 
uates us to tyranny and oppression. It was 'further urged, 
that, by this system of government, every State is to be pro- 
tected both from foreign invasion and fromTdomestic insurrec- 
tion ; from this consideration, it was of the utmost importance 
it should have a power to restrain the importation of slaves ; 
since, in proportion as the number of slaves is increased in 
any State, in the same proportion the State is weakened, and 
exposed to foreign invasion or domestic insurrection ; and by 
so much less will it be able to protect itself against either, 
and therefore will by so much the more want aid from, and 
be a burden to, the Union. 

It was further said, that, as in this system we were giving 
the General Government a power, under the idea of national 
character, or national interest, to regulate even our weights 
and measures, and had prohibited all possibility of emitting 
paper money, and passing insolvent laws, &c, it must appear 
still more extraordinary, that we should prohibit the govern- 
ment from interfering with the slave trade, than which nothing 
could so materially affect both our national honor and in- 
terest. 

These reasons influenced me, both on the committee and in 
convention, most decidedly to oppose and vote against the 
clause as it now makes part of the system. 

You will perceive, sir, not only that the General Govern- 
ment is prohibited from interfering in the slave trade before 
the year eighteen hundred and eight, but that there is no pro- 
vision in the Constitution that it shall afterwards be prohib- 
ited, nor any security that such prohibition will ever, take 



64 THE CONSTITUTION 

place ; and I think there is great reason to believe, that, if 
the importation of slaves is permitted until the year eighteen 
hundred and eight, it will not be prohibited afterwards. At 
this time we do not generally hold this commerce in so great 
abhorrence as we have done. When our liberties were at 
stake, we warmly felt for the common rights of men. The 
danger being thought to be past, which threatened ourselves, 
we are daily growing more insensible to those rights. In 
those States which have restrained or prohibited the importa- 
tion of slaves, it is only done by legislative acts, which may 
be repealed. When those States find that they must, in their 
national character and connection, suffer in the disgrace, and 
share in the inconveniences, attendant upon that detestable 
and iniquitous traffic, they may be desirous also to share in 
the benefits arising from it ; and the odium attending it will 
be greatly effaced by the sanction which is given to it in the 
General Government. 

By the next paragraph, the General Government is to have 
a power of suspending the habeas corpus act in cases of rebel- 
lion or invasion. 

As the State governments have a power of suspending the 
habeas corpus act in those cases, it was said, there could be 
no reason for giving such a power to the General Govern- 
ment ; since, whenever the State which is invaded, or in 
which an insurrection takes place, finds its safety requires it, 
it will make use of that power. And it was urged, that if we 
gave this power to the General Government, it would be an 
engine of oppression in its hands ; since whenever a State 
should oppose its views, however arbitrary and unconstitu- 
tional, and refuse submission to them, the General Govern- 
ment may declare it to be an act of rebellion, and, suspending 
the habeas corpus act, may seize upon the persons of those 
advocates of freedom who have had virtue and resolution 
enough to excite the opposition, and may imprison them dur- 
ing its pleasure in the remotest part of the Union ; so that a 
citizen of Georgia might be bastiled in the farthest part of 



A PRO-SLAVERY COMPACT. 65 

New Hampshire ; or a citizen of New Hampshire in the far- 
thest extreme of the South, cut off from their family, their 
friends, and their every connection. These considerations 
induced me, sir, to give my negative also to this clause. 



Extracts from Debates in the several State Con- 
ventions on the Adoption of the United States 
Constitution. 

MASSACHUSETTS CONVENTION. 

The third paragraph of the 2d section having been read, 

Mr. King rose to explain it. There has, says he, been 
much misconception of this section. It is a principle of this 
Constitution, that representation and taxation should go hand 
in hand. This paragraph states, that the number of free 
persons shall be determined, by adding to the whole number 
of free persons, including those bound to service for a term 
of years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three fifths of all 
other persons. These persons are the slaves. By this rule 
are representation and taxation to be apportioned. And it was 
adopted, because it was the language of all America. 

Mr. Widgery asked, whether a boy of six years of age 
was to be considered as a free person. 

Mr. King in answer said, all persons born free were to be 
considered as freemen; and to make the idea of taxation by 
numbers more intelligible, said that five negro children of 
South Carolina are to pay as much tax as the three Govern- 
ors of New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Connecticut. 

Mr. Gorham thought the proposed section much in favor 
of Massachusetts ; and if it operated against any State, it was 
Pennsylvania, because they have more white persons bound 
than any other. 

6* 



66 THE CONSTITUTION 

Judge Dana, in reply to the remark of some gentleman, 
that the Southern States were favored in this mode of appor- 
tionment, by having five of their negroes set against three 
persons in the Eastern, observed, that the negroes of the 
Southern States work no longer than when the eye of the 
driver is on them. Can, asked he, that land flourish like this, 
which is cultivated by the hands of freemen ? Are not three 
of these independent freemen of more real advantage to a 
State, than Jive of those poor slaves? 

Mr. Nason remarked on the statement of the honorable 
Mr. King, by saying that the honorable gentleman should 
have gone further, and shown us the other side of the ques- 
tion. It is a good rule that works both ways — and the gen- 
tleman should also have told us, that three of our infants in 
the cradle are to be rated as high as five of the working ne- 
groes of Virginia. Mr. N. adverted to a statement of Mr. 
King, who had said, that five negro children of South Caro- 
lina were equally ratable as three Governors of New Eng- 
land, and wished, he said, the honorable gentleman had con- 
sidered this question upon the other side — as it would then 
appear that this State will pay as great a tax for three chil- 
dren in the cradle, as any of the Southern States will for five 
hearty, working negro men. He hoped, he said, while we 
were making a new government, we should make it better 
than the old one ; for if we had made a bad bargain before, 
as had been hinted, it was a reason why we should make a 
better one now. 

Mr. Dawes said, he was sorry to hear so many objec- 
tions raised against the paragraph under consideration. He 
thought them wholly unfounded; that the black inhabitants 
of the Southern States must be considered either as slaves, 
and as so much property, or in the character Of so many free- 
men. If the former, why should they not be wholly repre- 
sented ? Our own State laws and Constitution would lead us 
to consider those blacks as freemen, and so indeed would our 
own ideas of natural justice: if, then, they are freemen, 



A PRO-SLAVERY COMPACT. 67 

they might form an equal basis for representation as though 
they were all white inhabitants. In either view, therefore, 
he could not see that the Northern States would suffer, 
but directly to the contrary. He thought, however, that 
gentlemen would do well to connect the passage in dispute with 
another article in the Constitution, that permits Congress, in 
the year 1808, wholly to prohibit the importation of slaves, 
and in the mean time to impose a duty of ten dollars a head 
on such blacks as should be imported before that period. Be- 
sides, by the new Constitution, every particular State is left 
to its own option totally to prohibit the introduction of slaves' 
into its own territories. What could the Convention do more ? 
The members of the Southern States, like ourselves, have 
their prejudices. It would not do to abolish slavery, by an 
act of Congress, in a moment, and so destroy what our south-. 
era brethren consider as property. But we may say, that al- 
though slavery is not smitten by an apoplexy, yet it has 
received a mortal wound, and will die of a consumption. 

Mr. Neal (from Kittery) went over the ground of objec- 
tion to this section on the idea that the slave trade was al- 
lowed to be continued for 20 years. His profession, he saul, 
obliged him to bear witness against any thing that should 
favor the making merchandise of the bodies of men, and un- 
less his objection was removed, he could not put his hand to 
the Constitution. Other gentlemen said, in addition to this 
idea, that there was not even a proposition that the negroes 
ever shall be free, and Gen. Thompson exclaimed : - 

Mr. President, shall it be said, that after we have estab- 
lished our own independence and freedom, we make slaves 
of others ? O ! Washington, what a name has he had ! How 
he has immortalized himself! But he holds those in slavery 
who have as good a right to be free as he has — he is still for 
self; and, in my opinion, his character has sunk 50 per cent. 

On the other side, gentlemen said that the step taken in 
this article towards the abolition of slavery was one of the 
beauties of the Constitution. They observed, that in the Con- 

% 



68 THE CONSTITUTION 

federation there was no provision whatever for its ever being 
abolished ; but this Constitution provides, that Congress may, 
after 20 years, totally annihilate the slave trade ; and that, as 
all the States, except two, have passed laws to this effect, it 
might reasonably be expected that it would then be done. 
In the interim, all the States were at liberty to prohibit it. 

Saturday, January 26. — [The debate on the 9th section 
still continued desultory — and consisted of similar objections, 
and answers thereto, as had before been used. Both sides 
deprecated the slave trade in the most pointed terms. On one 
side it was pathetically lamented, by Mr. Nason, Major Lusk, 
Mr. Neal, and others, that this Constitution provided for the 
continuation of the slave trade for 20 years. On the other, 
the honorable Judge Dana, Mr. Adams, and others, rejoiced 
that a door was now to be opened for the annihilation of this 
odious, abhorrent practice, in a certain time.] 

Gen. Heath. Mr. President, — By my indisposition and 
absence, I have lost several important opportunities : I have 
lost the opportunity of expressing my sentiments with a can- 
did freedom, on some of the paragraphs of the system, which 
haye lain heavy on my mind. I have lost the opportunity of 
expressing my warm approbation on some of the paragraphs. 
I have lost the opportunity of hearing those judicious, enlight- 
ening, and convincing arguments, which have been advanced 
during the investigation of the system. This is my misfor- 
tune, and I must bear it. The paragraph respecting the mi- 
gration or importation of such persons as any of the States 
now existing shall think proper to admit, &c, is one of those 
considered during my absence, and I have heard nothing on 
the subject, save what has been mentioned this morning ; but 
I think the gentlemen who have spoken, have carried the 
matter rather too far on both sides. I apprehend that it is not 
in our power to do any thing for or against those who are in 
slavery in the Southern States. No gentleman within these 
walls detests every idea of slavery more than I do ; it is gen- 
erally detested by the people of this Commonwealth ; and I 



A PRO-SLAVERY COMPACT. 69 

ardently hope that the time will soon come, when our brethren 
in the Southern States will view it as we do, and put a stop 
to it; but to this we have no right to compel them. Two 
questions naturally arise : if we ratify the Constitution, shall 
we do any thing by our act to hold the blacks in slavery — or 
shall we become the partakers of other men's sins ? I think 
neither of them. Each State is sovereign and independent, 
to a certain degree, and they have a right, and will regulate 
their own internal affairs as to themselves appears proper ; 
and shall we refuse to eat, or to drink, or to be united with 
those who do not think, or act, just as we do? Surely not. We 
are not in this case partakers of other men's sins, for in 
nothing do we voluntarily encourage the slavery of our fellow- 
men. A restriction is laid on the Federal Government, which 
could not be avoided, and a union take place. The Federal 
Convention went as far as they could ; the migration or im- 
portation, &c, is confined to the States now existing only ; 
new States cannot claim it. Congress, by their ordinance for 
erecting new States some time since, declared that the new 
States shall be republican, and that there shall be no slavery 
in them. But whether those in slavery in the Southern States 
will be emancipated after the year 1808, I do not pretend to 
determine : I rather doubt it. 

Mr. Neal rose and said, that as the Constitution at large 
was now under consideration, he would just remark, that the 
article which respected the Africans, was the one which lay 
on his mind — and, unless his objections to that were removed, 
it must, how much soever he liked the other parts of the 
Constitution, be a sufficient reason for him to give his nega- 
tive to it. 

Major Lusk concurred in the idea already thrown out in 
the debate, that although the insertion of the amendments in 
the Constitution was devoutly wished, yet he did not see any 
reason to suppose they ever would be adopted. Turning 
from the subject of amendments, the Major entered largely into 
the consideration of the 9th section, and in the most pathetic 



70 THE CONSTITUTION 

\ 

and feeling manner described the miseries of the poor natives 
of Africa, who are kidnapped and sold for slaves. With the 
brightest colors he painted their happiness and ease on their 
native shores, and contrasted them with their wretched, mis- 
erable, and unhappy condition, in a state of slavery. 

Rev. Mr. Backus. Much, sir, has been said about the 
importation of slaves into this country. I believe that, ac- 
cording to my capacity, no man abhors that wicked practice 
more than I do, and would gladly make use of all lawful 
means towards the abolishing of slavery in all parts of the 
land. But let us consider where we are, and what we are 
doing. In the articles of confederation, no provision was 
made to hinder the importation of slaves into any of these 
States : but a door is now opened hereafter to do it ; and 
each State is at liberty now to abolish slavery as soon as they 
please. And let us remember our former connection with 
Great Britain, from whom many in our land think we ought 
not to have revolted. How did they carry on the slave 
trade ? I know that the Bishop of Gloucester, in an annual 
sermon in London, in February, 1766, endeavored to justify 
their tyrannical claims of power over us, by casting the re- 
proach of the slave trade upon the Americans. t But at the 
close of the war, the Bishop of Chester, in an annual ser- 
mon, in February, 1783, ingenuously owned, that their nation 
is the most deeply involved in the guilt of that trade of any 
nation in the world ; and also, that they have treated their 
slaves in the West Indies worse than the French or Span- 
iards have done theirs. Thus slavery grows more and more 
odious through the world ; and, as an honorable gentleman 
said some days ago, " Though we cannot say that slavery is 
struck with an apoplexy, yet we may hope it will die with a 
consumption." And a main source, sir, of that iniquity has 
' been an abuse of the covenant of circumcision, which gave 
the seed of Abraham to destroy the inhabitants of Canaan, 
and to take their houses, vineyards, and all their estates, as 
their own ; and also to buy and hold others as servants. And 



A PRO-SLAVERY COMPACT. 



71 



as Christian privileges are greater than those of the Hebrews 
were, many have imagined that they had a right to seize upon 
the lands of the heathen, and to destroy or enslave them as 
far as they could extend their power. And from thence the 
mystery of iniquity carried many into the practice of making 
merchandise of slaves and souls of men. But all ought to 
remember, that when God promised the land of Canaan to 
Abraham and his seed, he let him know that they were not to 
take possession of that land, until the iniquity of the Amorites 
was full ; and then they did it under the immediate direction 
of Heaven ; and they were as real executors of the judgment 
of God upon those heathens, as any person ever was an exec- 
utor of a criminal justly condemned. And in doing it they 
were not allowed to invade the lands of the Edomites, who 
sprang from Esau, who was not only of the seed of Abraham, 
but was born at the same birth with Israel; and yet they 
were not of that church. Neither was Israel allowed to in- 
vade the lands of the Moabites, or of the children of Amnion, 
who were of the seed of Lot. And no officer in Israel had 
any legislative power but such as were immediately inspired. 
Even David, the man after God's own heart, had no legisla- 
tive power, but only as he was inspired from above : and he 
is expressly called a prophet in the New Testament. And 
we are to remember that Abraham and his seed, for four hun- 
dred years, had no warrant to admit any stranger into that 
church but by buying of him as a servant, with money. And 
it was a great privilege to be bought, and adopted into a re- 
ligious family for seven years, and then to have his freedom. 
And that covenant was expressly repealed in various parts of 
the New Testament ; and particularly in the first epistle to 
the Corinthians, wherein it is said — " Ye are bought with a 
price ; therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, 
which are God's." And again — " Circumcision is nothing, and 
uncircumcision is nothing, but keeping of the commandments 
of God. Ye are bought with a price ; be not ye the servants 
of men." Thus the gospel sets all men upon a level, very con- 



72 THE CONSTITUTION 

trary to the declaration of an honorable gentleman in this 
house, " that the Bible was contrived for the advantage of a 
particular order of men." 



NEW YORK CONVENTION. 

Mr. M. Smith. He would now proceed to state his objec- 
tions to the clause just read, (section 2, of article 1, clause 3.) 
His objections were comprised under three heads : 1st, the 
rule of apportionment is unjust ; 2d, there is no precise num- 
ber fixed on, below which the house shall not be reduced ; 3d, 
it is inadequate. In the first place, the rule of apportionment 
of the representatives is to be according to the whole number 
of the white inhabitants, with three fifths of all others ; that 
is, in plain English, each State is to send representatives in 
proportion to the number of freemen, and three fifths of the 
slaves it contains. He could not see any rule by which slaves 
were to be included in the ratio of representation; — the 
principle of representation being that every free agent should 
be concerned in governing himself, it was absurd to give that 
power to a man who could not exercise it. Slaves have no 
will of their own. The very operation of it was to give cer- 
tain privileges to those people who were so wicked as to keep 
slaves. He knew it would be admitted, that this rule of ap- 
portionment was founded on unjust principles, but that it was 
the result of accommodation ; which, he supposed, we should 
be under the necessity of admitting, if we meant to be in 
union with the Southern States, though utterly repugnant to 
his feelings. 

Mr. Hamilton. In order that the committee may under- 
stand clearly the principles on which the General Convention 
acted, I think it necessary to explain some preliminary cir- 
cumstances. 

Sir, the natural situation of this country seems to divide its 
interests into different classes. There are navigating and non- 
navigating States. The Northern are properly the navigating 



A PRO-SLAVERY COMPACT. 73 

States : the Southern appear to possess neither the means nor 
the spirit of navigation. This difference of situation natural- 
ly produces a dissimilarity of interest and views respecting 
foreign commerce. It was the interest of the Northern States 
that there should be no restraints on their navigation, and that 
they should have full power, by a majority in Congress, to 
make commercial regulations in favor of their own, and in 
restraint of the navigation of foreigners. The Southern States 
wished to impose a restraint on the Northern, by requiring that 
two thirds in Congress should be requisite to pass an act in 
regulation of commerce : they were apprehensive that the 
restraints of a navigation law would discourage foreigners, 
and by obliging them to employ the shipping of the Northern 
States, would probably enhance their freight. This being the 
case, they insisted strenuously on having this provision en- 
grafted in the Constitution ; and the Northern States were as 
anxious in opposing it. On the other hand, the small States 
seeing themselves embraced by the confederation upon equal 
terms, wished to retain the advantages which they already 
possessed : the large States, on the contrary, thought it im- 
proper that Rhode Island and Delaware should enjoy an equal 
suffrage with themselves : from these sources a delicate and 
difficult contest arose. It became necessary, therefore, to 
compromise ; or the Convention must have dissolved without 
effecting any thing. Would it have been wise and prudent in 
that body, in this critical situation, to have deserted their 
country ? No. Every man who hears me — every wise man 
in the United States, would have condemned them. The Con- 
vention were obliged to appoint a committee for accommoda- 
tion. In this committee the arrangement was formed as it 
now stands ; and tneir report was accepted. It was a delicate 
point ; and it was necessary that all parties should be indulged. 
Gentlemen will see, that if there had not been a unanimity, 
nothing could have been done : for the Convention had no 
power to establish, but only to recommend a government. 
Any other system would have been impracticable. Let a 
7 



74 THE CONSTITUTION 

convention be called to-morrow — let them meet twenty times j 
nay, twenty thousand times ; they will have the same difficul- 
ties to encounter — the same clashing interests to reconcile. 

But, dismissing these reflections, let us consider how far the 
arrangement is in itself entitled to the approbation of this 
body. We will examine it upon its own merits. 

The first thing objected to is that clause which allows a 

' representation for three fifths of the negroes. Much has been 
said of the impropriety of representing men, who have no will 
of their own. Whether this be reasoning or declamation, I 
will not presume to say. It is the unfortunate situation of the 

f Southern States to have a great part of their population, as 
well as property, in blacks. The regulations complained of 
was one result of the spirit of accommodation which governed 
the Convention ; and without this indulgence, no Union could 

/possibly have been formed. But, sir, considering some pecu- 
liar advantages which we derived from them, it is entirely just 
that they should be gratified. The Southern States possess 
certain staples, (tobacco, rice, indigo, &c.,) which must be capi- 
tal objects in treaties of commerce with foreign nations ; and 
the advantage which they necessarily procure in these trea- 
ties will be felt throughout all the States. But the justice of 
this plan will appear in another view. The best writers on 
government have held that representation should be com- 
pounded of persons and property. This rule has been adopt- 
ed, as far as it could be, in the Constitution of New York. 
It will, however, by no means be admitted, that the slaves are 
considered altogether as property. They are men, though 
degraded to the condition of slavery. They are persons 
known to the municipal laws of the States which they inhabit, 
as well as to the laws of nature. But representation and tax- 
ation go together — and one uniform rule ought to apply to 
both. Would it be just to compute these slaves in the assess- 
ment of taxes, and discard them from the estimate in the ap- 
portionment of representatives ? Would it be just to impose 
a singular burden, without conferring some adequate advan- 



A PRO-SLAVERY COMPACT. 75 

tage? Another circumstance ought to be considered. The 
rule we have been speaking of is a general rule, and applies 
to all the States. Now, you have a great number of people 
in your State, which are not represented at all, and have no 
voice in your government : these will be included in the 
enumeration — not two fifths — nor three fifths, but the whole. 
This proves that the advantages of the plan are not confined 
to the Southern States, but extend to other parts of the Union. 

Mr. M. Smith. I shall make no reply to the arguments 
offered by the honorable gentleman to justify the rule of ap- 
portionment fixed by this clause : for though I am confident 
they might be easily refuted, yet I am persuaded we must 
yield this point, in accommodation to the Southern States. 
The amendment, therefore, proposes no alteration to the clause 
in this respect. 

Mr. Harrison. Among the objections, that which has 
been made to the mode of apportionment of representatives 
has been relinquished. I think this concession does honor to 
the gentleman who has stated the objection. He has candidly 
acknowledged that this apportionment was the result of ac- 
commodation, without which no Union could have been formed. 



PENNSYLVANIA CONVENTION. 

Mr. Wilson. Much fault has been found with the mode 
of expression, used in the first clause of the ninth section of 
the first article. I believe I can assign a reason why that 
mode of expression was used, and why the term slave was not 
admitted in this Constitution — and as to the manner of laying 
taxes, this is not the first time that the subject has come into 
the view of the United States, and of the Legislatures of the 
several States. The gentleman (Mr. Findley) will recollect 
that in the present Congress, the quota of the federal debt 
and general expenses was to be in proportion to the value of 
land, and other enumerated property, within the States. After 
trying this for a number of years, it was found, on all hands, 



76 THE CONSTITUTION / 

to be a mode that could not be carried into execution. Con- 
gress were satisfied of this, and in the year 1783 recommend- 
ed, in conformity with the powers they possessed under the 
articles of confederation, that the quota should be according 
to the number of free people, including those bound to servi- 
tude, and excluding Indians not taxed. These were the ex- 
pressions used! in 1783, and the fate of this recommendation 
was similar to all their other resolutions. It was not carried 
into effect, but it was adopted by no fewer than eleven, out of 
thirteen States; and it cannot but be matter of surprise to 
hear gentlemen, who agreed to this very mode of expression 
at that time, come forward and state it as an objection on the 
present occasion. It was natural, sir, for the late Convention 
to adopt the mode after it had been agreed to by eleven States, 
and to use the expression which they found had been received 
as unexceptionable before. With respect to the clause, re- 
stricting Congress from prohibiting the migration or importa- 
tion of such persons as any of the States now existing shall 
think proper to admit, prior to the year 1808, the honorable 
gentleman says that this clause is not only dark, but intended 
to grant to Congress, for that time, the power to admit the 
importation of slaves. No such thing was intended ; but I 
will tell you what was done, and it gives me high pleasure 
that so much was done. Under the present Confedera- 
tion, the States may admit the importation of slaves as long 
as they please ; but by this article, after the year 1808, the 
Congress will have power to prohibit such importation, not- 
withstanding the disposition of any State to the contrary. I 
consider this as laying the foundation for banishing slavery 
out of this country ; and though the period is more distant 
than I could wish, yet it will produce the same kind, gradual 
change, which was pursued in Pennsylvania. It is with much 
satisfaction I view this power in the General Government, 
whereby they may lay an interdiction on this reproachful 
trade; but an immediate advantage is also obtained, for a tax 
or duty may be imposed on such importation, not exceeding 



A PRO-SLAVERY COMPACT. 77 

ten dollars for each person ; and this, sir, operates as a partial 
prohibition ; it was all that could be obtained ; I am sorry it 
was no more ; but from this I think there is reason to hope, 
that yet a few years, and it will be prohibited altogether ; and, 
in the mean time, the new States which are to be formed will 
be under the control of Congress in this particular ; and slaves 
will never be introduced amongst them. The gentleman says, 
that it is unfortunate in another point of view ; it means to 
prohibit the introduction of white people from Europe, as this 
tax may deter them from coming amongst us. A little impar- 
tiality and attention will discover the care that the Convention 
took in selecting their language. The words are, the migra- 
tion or importation of such persons, &c, shall not be pro- 
hibited by Congress prior to the year 1808, but a tax or duty 
may be imposed on such importation. It is observable here, 
that the term migration is dropped when a tax or duty is 
mentioned, so that Congress have power to impose the tax 
only on those imported. 

I recollect, on a former day, the honorable gentleman from 
Westmoreland, (Mr. Findley,) and the honorable gentleman 
from Cumberland, (Mr. Whitehill,) took exception against 
the first clause of the 9th section, article 1, arguing very un- 
fairly, that because Congress might impose a tax or duty of 
ten dollars on the importation of slaves, within any of the 
United States, Congress might therefore permit slaves to be 
imported within this State, contrary to its laws. I confess I 
little thought that this part of the system would be excepted to. 

I am sorry that it could be extended no further : but, so far 
as it operates, it presents us with the pleasing prospect that 
the rights of mankind will be acknowledged and established 
throughout the Union. 

If there was no other lovely feature in the Constitution but 
this one, it would diffuse a beauty over its whole countenance. 
Yet the lapse of a few years, and Congress will have power 
to exterminate slavery from within our borders. 

How would such a delightful prospect expand the breast of 
7* 



78 THE CONSTITUTION 

a benevolent and philanthropic European ! Would he cavil at 
an expression ? catch at a phrase ? No, sir ; that is only re- 
served for the gentleman on the other side of your chair to do. 

Mr. McKean. The arguments against the Constitution 
are, I think, chiefly these : . . . . 

That migration or importation of such persons as any of 
the States shall admit, shall not be prohibited prior to 1808, 
nor a tax or duty imposed on such importation exceeding ten 
dollars for each person. 

Provision is made thafc Congress shall have power to pro- 
hibit the importation of slaves after the year 1808 ; but the 
gentlemen in opposition accuse this system of a crime, because 
it has not prohibited them at once. I suspect those gentlemen 
are not well acquainted with the business of the diplomatic 
body, or they would know that an agreement might be made 
that did not perfectly accord with the will and pleasure of any 
one person. Instead of finding fault with what has been 
gained, I am happy to see a disposition in the United States 
to do so much. 



VIRGINIA CONVENTION. 

Gov. Randolph. This is one point of weakness. I wish, 
for the honor of my countrymen, that it was the only one. 
There is another circumstance which renders us more vul- 
nerable. Are we not weakened by the population of those 
whom we hold in slavery? The day may come when they 
may make impression upon us. Gentlemen who have been 
long accustomed to the contemplation of the subject, think 
there is a cause of alarm in this case. The number of those 
people, compared to that of the whites, is in an immense pro- 
portion : their number amounts to 236,000 — that of the 
whites, only to 352,000. * * * I beseech them to con- 
sider whether Virginia and North Carolina, both oppressed 
with debts and slaves, can defend themselves externally, or 
make their people happy internally. 



A PRO-SL AVERT COMPACT. 79 

George Mason. We are told, in strong language, of 
dangers to which we will be exposed, unless we adopt this 
Constitution. Among the rest, domestic safety is said to be 
in danger. This government does not attend to our domestic 
safety. It authorizes the importation of slaves for twenty- 
odd years, and thus continues upon us that nefarious trade. 
Instead of securing and protecting us, the continuation of this 
detestable trade adds daily to our weakness. Though this 
evil is increasing, there is no clause in the Constitution that 
will prevent the Northern and Eastern States from meddling 
with our whole property of that kind. There is a clause to 
prohibit the importation of slaves after twenty years, but 
there is no provision made for securing to the Southern 
States those they now pqssess. It is far from being a de- 
sirable property. But it will involve us in great difficulties 
and infelicity to be now deprived of them. There ought to 
be a clause in the Constitution to secure us that property, 
which we have acquired under our former laws, and the loss 
of which would bring ruin on a great many people. 

Mr. Lee. The honorable gentleman abominates it, because 
it does not prohibit the importation of slaves, and because it 
does not secure the continuance of the existing slavery ! Is 
it not obviously inconsistent to criminate it for two contradic- 
tory reasons ? I submit it to the consideration of the gentle- 
man, whether, if it be reprehensible in the one case, it can 
be censurable in the other. Mr. Lee then concluded by 
earnestly recommending to the committee to proceed regularly. 

Mr. Henry. It says that " no State shall engage in war, 
unless actually invaded." If you give this clause a fair con- 
struction, what is the true meaning of it ? What does this 
relate to ? Not domestic insurrections, but war. If the coun- 
try be invaded, a State may go to war ; but cannot suppress 
insurrections. If there should happen an insurrection of 
slaves, the country cannot be said to be invaded. They can- 
not therefore suppress it, without the interposition of Congress. 

Mr. George Nicholas. Another worthy member says, 



80 THE CONSTITUTION 

there is no power in the States to quell an insurrection of 
slaves. Have they it now ? If they have, does the Consti- 
tution take it away ? If it does, it inust be in one of the three 
clauses which have been mentioned by the worthy member. 
The first clause gives the General Government power to call 
them out when necessary. Does this take it away from the 
States ? No. But it gives an additional security ; for, be- 
sides the power in the State governments to use their own 
militia, it will be the duty of the General Government to aid 
them with the strength of the Union when called for. No 
part of this Constitution can show that this power is taken 
away. 

Mr. George Mason. Mr. Chairman, this is a fatal sec- 
tion, which has created more dangers than any other. The 
first clause allows the importation of slaves for twenty years. 
Under the royal government, this evil was looked upon as a 
great oppression, and many attempts were made to prevent 
it ; but the interest of the African merchants prevented its 
prohibition. No sooner did the revolution take place, than it 
was thought of. It was one of the great causes of our sep- 
aration from Great Britain. Its exclusion has been a princi- 
pal object of this State, and most of the States in the Union. 
The augmentation of slaves weakens the States ; and such a 
trade is diabolical in itself, and disgraceful to mankind. Yet, 
by this Constitution, it is continued for twenty years. As 
much as I value a union of all the States, I would not admit 
the Southern States into the Union, unless they agreed to the 
discontinuance of this disgraceful trade, because it would bring 
weakness and not strength to the Union. And though this 
infamous traffic be continued, we have no security for the 
property of that kind which we have already. There is no 
clause in this Constitution to secure it ; for they may lay such 
tax as will amount to manumission. And should the gov- 
ernment be amended, still this detestable kind of commerce 
cannot be discontinued till after the expiration of twenty 
years. For the fifth article, which provides for amendments, 



A PRO-SLAVERY COMPACT. 81 

expressly excepts this clause. I have ever looked upon this 
as a most disgraceful thing to America. I cannot express my 
detestation of it. Yet they have not secured us the property 
of the slaves we have already. So that "they have done 
what they ought not to have done, and have left undone what 
they ought to have done." 

Mr. Madison. Mr. Chairman, I should conceive this 
clause to be impolitic, if it were one of those things which 
could be excluded without encountering greater evils. The 
Southern States would not have entered into the Union of 
America without the temporary permission of that trade. 
And if they were excluded from the Union, the consequences 
might be dreadful to them and to us. "We are not in a worse 
situation than before. That traffic is prohibited by our laws, 
and we may continue the prohibition. The Union in general 
is not in a worse situation. Under the articles of confedera- 
tion, it might be continued forever ; but by this clause an end 
may be put to it after twenty years. There is, therefore, an 
amelioration of our circumstances. A tax may be laid in the 
mean time ; but it is limited ; otherwise Congress might lay 
such a tax as would amount to a prohibition. From the mode 
of representation and taxation, Congress cannot lay such 
a tax on slaves as will amount to manumission. Another 
clause secures us that property which we now possess. At 
present, if any slave elopes to any of those States where 
slaves are free, he becomes emancipated by their laws. For 
the laws of the States are uncharitable to one another in this 
respect. But in this Constitution, " no person held to service, 
or labor, in one State, under the laws thereof, escaping into 
another, shall, in consequence of any law or regulation there- 
in, be discharged from such service or labor ; but shall be de- 
livered up on claim of the party to whom such service or 
labor may be due." This clause was expressly inserted to 
enable owners of slaves to reclaim them. This is a better 
security than any that now exists. No power is given to the - 
General Government to interpose with respect to the property 



82 THE CONSTITUTION 

in slaves now held by the States. The taxation of this State 
being equal only to its representation, such a tax cannot be 
laid as he supposes. They cannot prevent the importation 
of slaves for twenty years ; but after that period, they can. 
The gentlemen from South Carolina and Georgia argued in 
this manner : " We have now liberty to import this species 
of property, and much of the property now possessed has 
been purchased, or otherwise acquired, in contemplation of 
improving it by the assistance of imported slaves. What 
would be the consequence of hindering us from it? The 
slaves of Virginia woul'd rise in value, and we would be 
obliged to go to your markets." I need not expatiate on this 
subject. Great as the evil is, a dismemberment of the Union 
would be worse. If those States should disunite from the 
other States, for not including them in the temporary continu- 
ance of this traffic, they might solicit and obtain aid from for- 
eign powers. 

Mr. Tyler warmly enlarged on the impolicy, iniquity, and 
disgracefulness of this wicked traffic. He thought the reasons 
urged by gentlemen in defence of it were inconclusive and 
ill founded. It was one cause of the complaints against Brit- 
ish tyranny, that this trade was permitted. The revolution 
had put a period to it ; but now it was to be revived. He 
thought nothing could justify it. This temporary restriction 
on Congress militated, in his opinion, against the arguments 
of gentlemen on the other side, that what was not given up, 
was retained by the States ; for that if this restriction had not 
been inserted, Congress could have prohibited the African 
trade. The power of prohibiting it was not expressly dele- 
gated to them ; yet they would have had it by implication, if 
this restraint had not been provided. This seemed to him to 
demonstrate most clearly the necessity of restraining them, by 
a bill of rights, from infringing our unalienable rights. It 
was immaterial whether the bill of rights was by itself, or 
included in the Constitution, But he contended for it one 
way or the other. It would be justified by our own example, 



A PRO-SLAVERY COMPACT. 83 

and that of England. His earnest desire was, that it should 
be handed down to posterity, that he had opposed this wicked 
clause. 

Mr. Madison. As to the restriction in the clause under 
consideration, it was a restraint on the exercise of a power 
expressly delegated to Congress, namely, that of regulating 
commerce with foreign nations. 

Mr. Henry insisted that the insertion of these restrictions 
on Congress was a plain demonstration that Congress could 
exercise powers by implication. The gentleman had admitted 
that Congress could have interdicted the African trade, were 
it not for this restriction. If so, the power, not having been 
expressly delegated, must be obtained by implication. He 
demanded, where, then, was their doctrine of reserved rights ? 
He wished for negative clauses to prevent them from assuming 
any powers but those expressly given. He asked why it was 
omitted to secure us that property in slaves which we held 
now ? He feared its omission was done with design. They 
might lay such heavy taxes on slaves as would amount to 
emancipation ; and then the Southern States would be the 
only sufferers. His opinion was confirmed by the mode of 
levying money. Congress, he observed, had power to lay 
and collect taxes, imposts, and excises. Imposts (or duties) 
ami excises were to be uniform. But this uniformity did not 
extend to taxes. This might compel the Southern States to 
liberate their negroes. He wished this property, therefore, to 
be guarded. He considered the clause which had been ad- 
duced by the gentleman as a security for this property, as no 
security at all. It was no more than this — that a runaway 
negro could be taken up in Maryland or New York. This 
could not prevent Congress from interfering with that proper- 
ty by laying a grievous and enormous tax on it, so as to com- 
pel owners to emancipate their slaves rather than pay the tax. 
He apprehended it would be productive of much stockjobbing, 
and that they would play into one another's hands in such a 
manner as that this property would be lost to the country. 



84 THE CONSTITUTION 

Mr. George Nicholas wondered that gentlemen who 
were against slavery should be opposed to this clause; as, 
after that period, the slave trade would be done away. He 
asked if gentlemen did not see the inconsistency of their ar- 
guments. They object, says .«he, to the Constitution, because 
the slave trade is laid open for twenty-odd years ; and yet tell 
you that, by some latent operation of it, the slaves who are so 
nOw will be manumitted. At the same moment, it is opposed 
for being promotive and destructive of slavery. He contend- 
ed that it was advantageous to Virginia that it should be in 
the power of Congress to prevent the importation of slaves 
after twenty years, as it would then put a period to the evil 
complained of. 

As the Southern States would not confederate without this 
clause, he asked if gentlemen would rather dissolve the con- 
federacy than to suffer this temporary inconvenience, admitting 
it to be such. Virginia might continue the prohibition of such 
importation during the intermediate period, and would be ben- 
efited by it, as a tax of ten dollars on each slave might be laid, 
of which she would receive a share. He endeavored to obviate 
the objection of gentlemen, that the restriction on Congress was 
a proof that they would have power not given them, by remark- 
ing that they would only have had a general superintendency 
of trade, if the restriction had not been inserted. But the 
Southern States insisted on this exception to that general su- 
perintendency for twenty years. It could not, therefore, have 
been a power by implication, as the restriction was an excep- 
tion from a delegated power. The taxes could not, as had 
been suggested, be laid so high on negroes as to amount to 
emancipation ; because taxation and representation were fixed 
according to the census established in the Constitution. The 
exception of taxes, from the uniformity annexed to duties and 
excises, could not have the operation contended for by the 
gentleman ; because other clauses had clearly and positively 
fixed the census. Had taxes been uniform, it would have 
been universally objected to, for no one object could be select- 



A PRO-SLAVERY COMPACT. 85 

ed without involving, great inconveniences and oppressions. 
But, says Mr. Nicholas, is it from the General Government 
we are to fear emancipation ? Gentlemen will recollect what 
I said in another house, and what other gentlemen have said 
that advocated emancipation. Give me leave to say, that that 
clause is a great security for our slave tax. I can tell the 
committee, that the people of our country are reduced to beg- 
gary by the taxes on negroes. Had this Constitution been 
adopted, it would not have been the case. The taxes were 
laid on all our negroes. By this system, two fifths are ex- 
empted. He then added, that he had imagined gentlemen 
would not support here what they had opposed in another place. 

Mr. Henry replied, that though the proportion of each 
was to be fixed by the census, and three fifths of the slaves 
only were included in the enumeration, yet the proportion of 
Virginia being once fixed, might be laid on blacks, and blacks 
only. For the mode of raising the proportion of each State 
being to be directed by Congress, they might make slaves the 
sole object to raise it. Personalities he wished to take leave 
of; they had nothing to do with the question, which was solely 
whether that paper was wrong or not. 

Mr. Nicholas repjied, that negroes must be considered as 
persons or property. If as property, the proportion of taxes 
to be laid on them was fixed in the Constitution. If he ap- 
prehended a poll tax on negroes, the Constitution had pre- 
vented it. For, by the census, where a white man paid ten 
shillings, a negro paid but six shillings ; for the exemption 
of two fifths of them reduced it to that proportion. 

The second, third, and fourth clauses were then read, as 
follows : 

The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended, unless 
when in cases of rebellion or invasion the public safety may require it. 

No bill of attainder or ex post facto law shall be passed. 

No capitation or other direct tax shall be paid, unless in proportion to the 
census or enumeration herein before directed to be taken. 

Mr. George Mason said, that gentlemen might think 
8 



86 THE CONSTITUTION 

themselves secured by the restriction in the fourth clause, that 
no capitation or other direct tax should be laid but in propor- 
tion to the census before directed to be taken. But that, when 
maturely considered, it would be found to be no security what- 
soever. It was nothing but a direct assertion, or mere con- 
firmation of the clause which fixed the ratio of taxes and 
representation. It only meant that the quantum to be raised 
of each State should be in proportion to their numbers in the 
manner therein directed. But the General Government was 
not precluded from laying the proportion of any particular 
State on any one species of property they might think proper* 
For instance : if five hundred thousand dollars were to be 
raised, they might lay the whole of the proportion of the 
Southern States on the blacks, or any one species of proper- 
ty : so that, by laying taxes too heavily on slaves, they might 
totally annihilate that kind of property. No real security 
could arise from the clause which provides that persons held 
to labor in one State, escaping into another, shall be delivered 
up. This only meant that runaway slaves should not be pro- 
tected in other States. As to the exclusion of ex post facto 
laws, it could not be said to create any security in this case ; 
for laying a tax on slaves would not be ex post facto. 

Mr. Madison replied, that even the Southern States, who 
were most affected, were perfectly satisfied with this provision, 
and dreaded no danger to the property they now hold. It 
appeared to him that the General Government would not in- 
termeddle with that property for twenty years, but to lay a 
tax on every slave imported, not exceeding ten dollars ; and 
that, after the expiration of that period, they might prohibit 
the traffic altogether. The census in the Constitution was in- 
tended to introduce equality in the burdens to be laid on the 
community. No gentleman objected to laying duties, imposts, 
and excises, uniformly. But uniformity of taxes would be 
subversive of the principles of equality : for that it was not 
possible to select any article which would be easy for one 
State, but what would be heavy for another. That the pro- 



A PRO-SLAVERY COMPACT. 87 

portion of each State being ascertained, it would be raised by 
the General Government in the most convenient manner for 
the people, and not by the selection of any one particular ob- 
ject. That there must be some degree of confidence put in 
agents, or else we must reject a state of civil society altogeth- 
er. Another great security to this property, which he men- 
tioned, was, that five States were greatly interested in that 
species of property, and there were other States which had 
some slaves, and had made no attempt, or taken any step, to 
take them from the people. There were a few slaves in New 
York, New Jersey, and Connecticut : these States would, prob- 
ably, oppose any attempts to annihilate this species of proper 
tj. He concluded by observing, that he would be glad to 
leave the decision of this to the committee. 

The second section was then read, as follows : — * * * 

No person held to service or labor in one State, under the laws thereof, 
escaping into another, shall, in consequence of any law or regulation therein, 
be discharged from such service or labor, but shall be delivered up, on claim 
of the party to whom such service or labor may be due. 

Mr. George Mason. Mr. Chairman, on some former 
part of the investigation of this subject, gentlemen were 
pleased to make some observations on the security of property 
coming within this section. It was then said, and I now say, 
that there is no security, nor have gentlemen convinced me 
of this. 

Mr. Henry. Among ten thousand implied powers which 
they may assume, they may, if we be engaged in war, liberate 
every one of your slaves, if they please. And this must and 
will be done by men, a majority of whom have not a common 
interest with you. They will, therefore, have no feeling for 
your interests. It has been repeatedly said here, that the 
great object of a national government was national defence. 
That power which is said to be intended for security and safe- 
ty, may be rendered detestable and oppressive. If you give 
power to the General Government to provide for the general 
defence, the means must be commensurate to the end. All 



88 THE CONSTITUTION 

the means in the possession of the people must be given to 
the Government which is intrusted with the public defence. 
In this State there are 236,000 blacks, and there are many in 
several other States. But there are few or none in the North- 
ern States ; and yet if the Northern States shall be of opinion 
that our numbers are numberless, they may call forth every 
national resource. May Congress not say, that every black 
man must fight ? Did we not see a little of this last war ? 
We were not so hard pushed as to make emancipation gene- 
ral. But acts of assembly passed, that every slave who would 
go to the army should be free. Another thing will contribute 
to bring this event about — slavery is detested — we feel its 
fatal effects — we deplore it with all the pity of humanity. 
Let all these considerations, at some future period, press with 
full force on the minds of Congress. Let that urbanity, which 
I trust will distinguish America, and the necessity of national 
defence, let all these things operate on their minds, they will 
search that paper, and see if they have the power of manu- 
mission. And have they not, sir ? Have they not power to 
provide for the general defence and welfare ? May they not 
think that these call for the abolition of slavery ? May not 
they pronounce all slaves free, and will they not be warranted 
by that power ? There is no ambiguous implication or logical 
deduction. The paper speaks to the point. They have the 
power in clear, unequivocal terms, and will clearly and cer- 
tainly exercise it. As much as I deplore slavery, I see that 
prudence forbids its abolition. I deny that the General Gov- 
ernment ought to set them free, because a decided majority of 
the States have not the ties of sympathy and fellow-feeling for 
those whose interest would be affected by their emancipation. 
The majority of Congress is at the North, and the slaves are 
at the South. In this situation, I see a great deal of the prop- 
erty of the people of Virginia in jeopardy, and their peace 
and tranquillity gone away. I repeat it again, that it would 
rejoice my very soul, that every one of my fellow-beings was 
emancipated. As we ought with gratitude to admire that de- 



A PRO-SLAVERY COMPACT. 89 

cree of Heaven, which has numbered us among the free, we 
ought to lament and deplore the necessity of holding our fel- 
low-men in bondage. But is it practicable, by any human 
means, to liberate them, without producing the most dreadful 
and ruinous consequences ? We ought to possess them in the 
manner we have inherited them from our ancestors, as their 
manumission is incompatible with the felicity of the country. 
But we ought to soften, as much as possible, the rigor of their 
unhappy fate. I know that, in a variety of particular instances, 
the legislature, listening to complaints, have admitted their 
emancipation. Let me not dwell on this subject. I will only 
add, that this, as well as every other property of the people 
of Virginia, is in jeopardy, and put in the hands of those who 
have no similarity of situation with us. This is a local mat- 
ter, and I can see no propriety in subjecting it to Congress. 

Have we not a right to say, Hear our propositions $ Why, 
sir, your slaves have a right to make their humble requests. 
Those who are in the meanest occupations of human life have 
a right to complain. 

Gov. Randolph. That honorable gentleman, and some 
others, have insisted that the abolition of slavery will result 
from it, and at the same time have complained that it encour- 
ages its continuation. The inconsistency proves in some de- 
gree the futility of their arguments. But if it be not conclu- 
sive, to satisfy the committee that there is no danger of en- 
franchisement taking place, I beg leave to refer them to the 
paper itself. I hope that there is none here, who, considering 
the subject in the calm light of philosophy, will advance an 
objection dishonorable to Virginia ; that at the moment they 
are securing the rights of their citizens, an objection is started 
that there is a spark of hope that those unfortunate men now 
held in bondage may, by the operation of the General Govern- 
ment, be made free. But if any gentleman be terrified by 
this apprehension, let him read the system. I ask, and I will 
ask again and again till I be answered, (not by declamation,) 
where is the part that has a tendency to the abolition of 
8* 



90 THE CONSTITUTION 

slavery ? Is it the clause which says, that " the migration or 
importation of such persons as any of the States now existing 
shall think proper to admit, shall not be prohibited by Con- 
gress prior to the year 1808 " ? This is an exception from 
the power of regulating commerce, and the restriction is only 
to continue till 1808. Then Congress can, by the exercise of 
that power, prevent future importations ; but does it affect the 
existing state of slavery? Were it right here to mention 
what passed in Convention on the occasion, I might tell you 
that the Southern States, even South Carolina herself, con- 
ceived this property to be secure by these words. I believe, 
whatever we may think here, that there was not a member of 
the Virginia delegation who had the smallest suspicion of the 
abolition of slavery. Go to their meaning. Point out the 
clause where this formidable power of emancipation is insert- 
ed. But another clause of the Constitution proves the absur- 
dity of the supposition. The words of the clause are, " No 
person held to service or labor in one State, under the laws 
thereof, escaping into another, shall, in consequence of any 
law or regulation therein, be discharged from such service or 
labor; but shall be delivered up on claim of the party to 
whom such service or labor may be due." Every one knows 
that slaves are held to service and labor. And when author- 
ity is given to owners of slaves to vindicate their property, 
can it be supposed they can be deprived of it ? If a citizen 
of this State, in consequence of this clause, can take his run- 
away slave in Maryland, can it be seriously thought that, after 
taking him and bringing him home, he could be made free ? 

I observed that the honorable gentleman's proposition comes 
in a truly questionable shape, and is still more extraordinary 
and unaccountable for another consideration : that although 
we went article by article through the Constitution, and al- 
though we did not expect a general review of the subject, (as 
a most comprehensive view had been taken of it before it was 
regularly debated,) yet we are carried back to the clause giv- 
ing that dreadful power for the general welfare. Pardon me 



A PRO-SLAVERY COMPACT. 91 

if I remind you of the true state of that business. I appeal 
to the candor of the honorable gentleman, and if he thinks it 
an improper appeal, I ask the gentlemen here, whether there 
be a general, indefinite power of providing for the general 
welfare ? The power is, " to lay and collect taxes, duties, im- 
posts, and excises, to pay the debts and provide for the com- 
mon defence and general welfare." So that they can only 
raise money by these means, in order to provide for the gen- 
eral welfare. No man who reads it can say it is general, as 
the honorable gentleman represents it. You must violate 
every rule of construction and common sense, if you sever it 
from the power of raising money, and annex it to any thing 
else, in order to make it that formidable power which it is 
represented to be. 

Mr. George Mason. Mr. Chairman, with respect to 
commerce and navigation, he has given it as his opinion that 
their regulation, as it now stands, was a sine qua non of the 
Union, and that without it the States in Convention would 
never concur. I differ from him. It never was, nor in my 
opinion ever will be, a sine qua non of the Union. I will give 
you, to the best of my recollection, the history of that affair. 
This business was discussed at Philadelphia for four months, 
during which time the subject of commerce and navigation 
was often under consideration ; and I assert that eight States 
out of twelve, for more than three months, voted for requir- 
ing two thirds of the members present in each house to pass 
commercial and navigation laws. True it is that afterwards 
it was carried by a majority, as it stands. If I am right, 
there was a great majority for requiring two thirds of the 
States in this business, till a compromise took place between 
the Northern and Southern States ; the Northern States 
agreeing to the temporary importation of slaves, and the 
Southern States conceding, in return, that navigation and 
commercial laws should be on the footing on which they now 
stand. If I am mistaken, let me be put right. These are my 
reasons for saying that this was not a sine qua non of their 



92 THE CONSTITUTION 

concurrence. The Newfoundland fisheries will require that 
kind of security which we are now in want of. The Eastern 
States therefore agreed at length, that treaties should require 
the consent of two thirds of the members present in the Senate. 

Mr. Madison. I was struck with surprise when I heard 
him express himself alarmed with respect to the emancipation 
of slaves. Let me ask, if they should even attempt it, if it 
w r ill not be a usurpation of power? There is no power to 
warrant it, in that paper. If there be, I know it not. But 
why should it be done ? Says the honorable gentleman, for 
the general welfare — it will infuse strength into our system. 
Can any member of this committee suppose that it will in- 
crease our strength ? Can any one believe that the American 
councils will come into a measure which will strip them of 
their property, discourage and alienate the affections of five 
thirteenths of the Union? Why was nothing of this sort 
aimed at before ? I believe such an idea never entered into 
an American breast, nor do I believe it ever will, unless it 
will enter into the heads of those gentlemen who substitute 
unsupported suspicions for reasons. • 

Mr. Henry. He asked me where was the power of eman- 
cipating slaves. I say it will be implied, unless implication 
be prohibited. He admits that the power of granting pass- 
ports will be in the new Congress, without the insertion of this 
restriction — yet he can show me nothing like such a power 
granted in that Constitution. Notwithstanding he admits 
their right to this power by implication, he says that I am un- 
fair and uncandid in my deduction, that they can emancipate 
our slaves, though the word emancipation be not mentioned 
in it. They can exercise power by implication in one in- 
stance, as well as in another. Thus, by the gentleman's own 
argument, they can exercise the power, though it be not 
delegated. 

Mr. Z. Johnson. They tell us that they see a progressive 
danger of bringing about emancipation. The principle has 
begun since the revolution. Let us do what we will, it will 



A PRO-SLAVERY COMPACT. 93 

come round. Slavery has been the foundation of that impiety 
and dissipation, which have been so much disseminated among 
our countrymen. If it were totally abolished, it would do much 
good. 

NORTH CAROLINA CONVENTION 

The first three clauses of the second section read. 

Mr. Goudy. Mr. Chairman, this clause of taxation will 
give an advantage to some States over the others. It will be 
oppressive to the Southern States. Taxes are equal to our 
representation. To augment our taxes and increase our bur- 
dens, our negroes are to be represented. If a State has fifty 
thousand negroes, she is to send one representative for them. 
I wish not to be represented with negroes, especially if it in- 
creases my burdens. 

Mr. Davie. Mr. Chairman, I will endeavor to obviate 
what the gentleman last up has said. I wonder to see gentle- 
men so precipitate and hasty on a subject of such awful im- 
portance. It ought to be considered, that some of us are slow 
of apprehension, not having those quick conceptions and lu- 
minous understandings, of which other gentlemen may be 
possessed. The gentleman " does not wish to be represented 
with negroes." This, sir, is an unhappy species of popula- 
tion, but we cannot at present alter their situation. The 
Eastern States had great jealousies on this subject. They 
insisted that their cows and horses were equally entitled to 
representation; that the one was property as well as the 
other. It became our duty, on the other hand, to acquire 
as much weight as possible in the legislation of the Union ; 
and as the Northern States were more populous in whites, 
this only could be done by insisting that a certain proportion 
of our slaves should make a part of the computed population. 
It was attempted to form a rule of representation from a com- 
pound ratio of wealth and population ; but, on consideration, 
it was found impracticable to determine the comparative value 



94 THE CONSTITUTION 

of lands, and other property, in so extensive a territory, with 
any degree of accuracy; and population alone was adopted 
as the only practicable rule or criterion of representation, It 
was urged by the deputies of the Eastern States, that a rep- 
resentation of two fifths would be of little utility, and that 
their entire representation would be unequal and burdensome. 
That in a time of war, slaves rendered a country more vul- 
nerable, while its defence devolved upon its free inhabitants. 
On the other hand, we insisted that, in time of peace, they 
contributed by their labor to the general wealth, as well as 
other members of the community. That as rational beings 
they had a right of representation, and in some instances 
might be highly useful in war. On these principles, the East- 
ern States gave the matter up, and consented to the regula- 
tion as it has been read. I hope these reasons will appear 
satisfactory. It is the same rule or principle which was pro- 
posed some years ago by Congress, and assented to by twelve 
of the States. It may wound the delicacy of the gentle- 
man from Guilford, (Mr. Goudy,) but I hope he will^endeav- 
or to accommodate his feelings to the interests and circum- 
stances of his country. 

Mr. James Galloway said, that he did not object to the 
representation of negroes, so much as he did to the fewness 
of the number of representatives. He was surprised how we 
came to have but five, including those intended to represent 
negroes. That in his humble opinion, North Carolina was 
entitled to that number, independent of the negroes. 

First clause of the 9th section read. 

Mr. J. M'Dowall wished to hear the reasons of this re- 
striction. 

Mr. Spaight answered that there was a contest between 
the Northern and Southern States — that the Southern States, 
whose principal support depended on the labor of slaves, 
would not consent to the desire of the Northern States to ex- 
clude the importation of slaves absolutely. That South Caro- 
lina and Georgia insisted on this clause, as they were now in 



A PRO-SLAVERY COMPACT. 95 

Want of hands to cultivate their lands ; that in the course of 
twenty years they would be fully supplied; that the trade 
would be abolished then, and that in the mean time some tax 
or duty might be laid on. 

Mr. M'Dowall replied, that the explanation was just such 
as he expected, and by no means satisfactory to him, and that 
he looked upon it as a very objectionable part of the system. 

Mr. Iredell. Mr. Chairman, I rise to express senti- 
ments similar to those of the gentleman from Craven. For 
my part, were it practicable to put an end to the importation 
of slaves immediately, it would give me the greatest pleasure ; 
for it certainly is a trade utterly inconsistent with the rights 
of humanity, and under which great cruelties have been ex- 
ercised. When the entire abolition of slavery takes place, it 
will be an event which must be pleasing to every generous 
mind, and every friend of human nature ; but we often wish 
for things which are not attainable. It was the wish of a 
great majority of the Convention to put an end to the trade 
immediately, but the States of South Carolina and Georgia 
would not agree to it. Consider, then, what would be the 
difference between our present situation in this respect, if we 
do not agree to the Constitution, and what it will be if we do 
agree to it. If we do not agree to it, do we remedy the evil? 
No, sir, we do not ; for if the Constitution be not adopted, it 
will be in the power of every State to continue it forever. 
They may or may not abolish it, at their discretion. But if 
we adopt the Constitution, the trade must cease after twenty 
years, if Congress declare so, whether particular States please 
so or not : surely, then, we gain by it. This was the utmost 
that could be obtained. I heartily wish more could have been 
done. But as it is, this government is nobly distinguished 
above others by that very provision. Where is there another 
country in which such a* restriction prevails ? We, therefore, 
sir, set an example of humanity by providing for the abolition 
of this inhuman traffic, though at a distant period. I hope, 
therefore, that this part of the Constitution will not be con- 



96 THE CONSTITUTION 

demned, because it has not stipulated for what it was imprac- 
ticable to obtain. 

Mr. Spaioht further explained the clause. That the lim- 
itation of this trade to the term of twenty years was a com- 
promise between the Eastern States and the Southern States. 
South Carolina and Georgia wished to extend the term. The 
Eastern States insisted , on the entire abolition of the trade. 
That the State of North Carolina hdd not thought proper to 
pass any law prohibiting the importation of slaves, and there- 
fore its delegation in the Convention did not think themselves 
authorized to contend for an immediate prohibition of it. 

Mr. Iredell added to what he had said before, that the 
States of Georgia and South Carolina had lost a great many 
slaves during the war, and that they wished to supply the loss. 

Mr. Galloway. Mr. Chairman, the explanation given 
to this clause does not satisfy my mind. I wish to see this 
abominable trade put an end to. But in case it be thought 
proper to continue this abominable traffic for twenty years, yet 
I do not wish to see the tax on the importation extended to 
all persons whatsoever. Our situation is different from the 
people to the "North. We want citizens ; they do not. In- 
stead of laying a tax, we ought to give a bounty, to encourage 
foreigners to come among us. With respect to the abolition 
of slavery, it requires the utmost consideration. The prop- 
erty of the Southern States consists principally of slaves. 
If they mean to do away slavery altogether, this property 
will be destroyed. I apprehend it means to bring forward 
manumission. If we must manumit our slaves, what country 
shall we send them to ? It is impossible for us to be happy, 
if, after manumission, they are to stay among us. 

Mr. Iredell. Mr. Chairman, the worthy gentleman, I 
believe, has misunderstood this clause, which runs in the fol- 
lowing words : " The migration or importation of such per- 
sons as any of the States now existing shall think proper to 
admit, shall not be prohibited by the Congress prior to the 
year 1808, but a tax or duty may be imposed on such impor 
tatiort, not exceeding ten dollars for each person." 



A PRO-SLAVERY COMPACT. 97 

Now, sir, observe that the Eastern States, who long ago 
have abolished slavery, did not approve of the expression 
slaves ; they therefore used another that answered the same 
purpose. The committee will observe the distinction between 
the two words, migration and importation. The first part of 
the clause will extend to persons who come into the country 
as free people, or are brought as slaves, but the last part 
extends to slaves only. The word migration refers to free 
persons ; but the word importation refers to slaves, because 
free people cannot be said to be imported. The tax, there- 
fore, is only to be laid on slaves who are imported, and not 
on free persons who migrate. I further beg leave to say, that 
the gentleman is mistaken in another thing. He seems to say 
that this extends to the abolition of slavery. Is there any 
thing in this Constitution which says that Congress shall have 
it in their power to abolish the slavery of those slaves who are 
now in the country ? Is it not the plain meaning of it, that 
after twenty years they may prevent the future importation 
of slaves ? It does not extend to those now in the country. 
There is another circumstance to be observed. There is no 
authority vested in Congress to restrain the States in the in- 
terval of twenty years from doing what they pleane. If they 
wish to inhibit such importation, they may do so. Our next 
assembly may put an entire end to the importation of slaves. 

Article fourth. The first section and two first clauses of 
the second section read without observation. 

The last clause read — 

Mr. Iredell begged leave to explain the reason of this 
clause. In spme of the Northern States, they have emanci- 
pated all their slaves. If any of our slaves, said he, go there 
and remain there a certain time, they would, by the present 
laws, be entitled to their freedom, so that their masters could 
not get them again. This would be extremely prejudicial to 
the inhabitants of the Southern States ; and to prevent it, this 
clause is inserted in the Constitution. Though the word slave 
be not mentioned, this is the meaning of it. The Northern 
9 



98 THE CONSTITUTION 

delegates, owing to their particular scruples on the subject of 
slavery, did not choose the word slave to be mentioned. 

The rest of the fourth article read without any observation* 

"$F W * V ^p yfc "3l? 

Mr. Iredell. It is, however, to be observed, that the first 
and fourth clauses in the ninth section of the first article are 
protected from any alteration till the year 1808 ; and in order 
that no consolidation should take place, it is provided that no 
.State shall, by any amendment or alteration, be ever deprived 
of an equal suffrage in the Senate, without its own consent. 
The first two prohibitions are with respect to the census, ac- 
cording to which direct taxes are imposed, and with respect 
to the importation of slaves. As to the first, it must be 
observed, that there is a material difference between the 
Northern and Southern States. The Northern States have 
been much longer settled, and are much fuller of people than 
the Southern, but have not land in equal proportion, nor 
scarcely any slaves. The subject of this article was regulated 
with great difficulty, and by a spirit of concession which it 
would not be prudent to disturb for a good many years. In 
twenty years there will probably be a great alteration, and 
then the subject may be reconsidered with less difficulty and 
greater coolness. In the mean time, the compromise was 
upon the best footing that could be obtained. A compromise, 
likewise, took place in regard to the importation of slaves. It 
is probable that all the members reprobated this inhuman 
traffic, but those of South Carolina and Georgia would not 
consent to an immediate prohibition of it ; one reason of 
which was, that during the last war they lost a vast number 
of negroes, which loss they wish to supply. In the mean 
time, it is left to the States to admit or prohibit the importa- 
tion, and Congress may impose a limited duty upon it. 



SOUTH CAROLINA CONVENTION. 

Hon. Rawlins Lowndes. p In the first place, what cause 
was there for jealousy of our importing negroes ? Why con- 



A PRO-SLAVERY COMPACT. 99 

fine us to twenty years, or, rather, why limit us at all ? For 
his part, he thought this trade could be justified on the prin- 
ciples of religion, humanity, and justice ; for, certainly, to 
translate a set of human beings from a bad country to a bet- 
ter, was fulfilling every part of these principles. But they 
don't like our slaves, because they have none themselves ; and 
therefore want to exclude us from this great advantage. Why 
should the Southern States allow of this, without the consent 
of nine States ? 

Judge Pendleton observed, that only three States, Geor- 
gia, South Carolina, and North Carolina, allowed the impor- 
tation of negroes. Virginia had a clause in her Constitution 
for this purpose, and Maryland, he believed, even before the 
war, prohibited such importation. 

Mr. Lowndes continued, that we had a law prohibiting 
the importation of negroes for three years — a law he greatly 
approved of; but there was no reason offered why the South- 
ern States might not find it necessary to alter their conduct, 
and open their ports. Without negroes, this State would de- 
generate into one of the most contemptible in the Union. He 
cited an expression that fell from Gen. Pinckney on a for- 
mer debate, that, whilst there remained one acre of swamp 
land in South Carolina, he should raise his voice against 
restricting the importation of negroes. Even in granting the 
importation for twenty years, care had been taken to make us 
pay for this indulgence, each negro being liable, on importa- 
tion, to pay a duty not exceeding ten dollars, and, in addition 
to this, was liable to a capitation tax. Negroes were our 
wealth, our only natural resource ; yet, behold how our kind 
friends in the North were determined soon to tie up our hands, 
and drain us of what we had ! The Eastern States drew their 
means of subsistence, in a great measure, from their shipping ; 
and on that head they had been particularly careful not to 
allow of any burdens ; they were not to pay tonnage, or 
duties ; no, not even the form of clearing out ; all ports were 
free and open to them. Why, then, call this a reciprocal 



100 THE CONSTITUTION 

bargain, which took all from one party, to bestow it on the 
other ? 

Major Butler observed, that they were to pay a five per 
cent, impost. This, Mr. Lowndes proved, must fall upon 
the consumer. They are to be the carriers ; and we being 
the consumers, therefore all expenses would fall upon us. 

Hon. E. Rutledge. The gentleman had complained of 
the inequality of the taxes between the Northern and South- 
ern States — that ten dollars a head was imposed on the im- 
portation of negroes, and that those negroes were . afterwards 
taxed. To this it was answered, that the ten dollars per head 
was an equivalent to the five per cent, on imported articles ; 
and as to their being afterwards taxed, the advantage is on 
our side ; or, at least, not against us. 

In the Northern States, the labor is performed by white 
people ; in the Southern, by black. All the free people (and 
there are few others) in the Northern States are to be taxed 
by the new Constitution ; whereas, only the free people and 
two fifths of the slaves in the Southern States are to be rated 
in the apportioning of taxes. But the principal objection is, 
that no duties are laid on shipping — that, in fact, the carrying 
trade was to be vested, in a great measure, in the Americans ; 
that the ship-building business was principally carried on in 
the Northern States. When this subject is duly considered, 
the Southern States should be the last to object to it. Mr. 
Rutledge then went into a consideration of the subject ; 
after which, the House adjourned. 

Gen. Charles Cotesworth Pinckney. We were at a 
loss for some time for a rule to ascertain the proportionate 
wealth of the States ; at last, we thought that the productive 
labor of the inhabitants was the best rule for ascertaining 
their wealth. In conformity to this rule, joined to a spirit of 
concession, we determined that representatives should be ap- 
portioned among the several States, by adding to the whole 
number of free persons three fifths of the slaves. We thus 
obtained a representation for our property ; and I confess I 



A PRO-SLAVERY COMPACT. 101 

did not expect that we had conceded too much to the Eastern 
States, when they allowed us a representation for a species 
of property which they have not among them. 

The honorable gentleman alleges, that the Southern States 
are weak ; I sincerely agree with him — we are so weak that 
by ourselves we could not form a union strong enough for the 
purpose of effectually protecting each other. Without union 
with the other States, South Carolina must soon fall. Is there 
any one among us so much a Quixote as to suppose that this 
State could long maintain her independence if she stood alone, 
or was only connected with the Southern States ? I scarcely 
believe there is. Let an invading power send a naval force 
into the Chesapeake to keep Virginia in alarm, and attack 
South Carolina with such a naval and military force as Sir 
Henry Clinton brought here in 1780, and though they might 
not soon conquer us, they would certainly do us an infinite 
deal of mischief; and if they considerably increased their 
numbers, we should probably fall. As, from the nature of our 
climate, and the fewness of our inhabitants, we are undoubt- 
edly weak, should we not endeavor to form a close union with 
the Eastern States, who are strong ? 

For who have been the greatest sufferers in the Union, by 
our obtaining our independence ? 1 answer, the Eastern 
States ; they have lost every thing but their country and 
their freedom. It is notorious that some ports to the East- 
ward, which used to fit out one hundred and fifty sail of ves- 
sels, do not now fit out thirty ; that their trade of ship-build- 
ing, which used to be very considerable, is now annihilated ; 
that their fisheries are trifling, and their mariners in want of 
bread ; surely we are called upon by every tie of justice, 
friendship, and humanity, to relieve their distresses ; and as 
by their exertions they have assisted us in establishing our 
freedom, we should let them, in some measure, partake of our 
prosperity. The General then said he would make a few ob- 
servations on the objections which the gentleman had thrown 
out on the restrictions that might be laid on the African trade 
9* 



102 THE CONSTITUTION 

after the year 1808. On this point your delegates had to 
contend with the religious and political prejudices of the East- 
ern and Middle States, and with the interested and inconsist- 
ent opinion of Virginia, who was warmly opposed to our im- 
porting more slaves. I am of the same opinion now as I was 
two years ago, when I used the expressions that the gentle- 
man has quoted, that while there remained one acre of swamp 
land uncleared of South Carolina, I would raise my voice 
against restricting the importation of negroes. I am as thor- 
oughly convinced as that gentleman is, that the nature of our 
climate, and the flat, swampy situation of our country, obliges 
us to cultivate our land with negroes, and that without them 
South Carolina would soon be a desert waste. 

You have so frequently heard my sentiments on this sub- 
ject that I need not now repeat them. It was alleged, by some 
of the members who opposed an unlimited importation, that 
slaves increased the weakness of any State who admitted 
them ; that>they were a dangerous species of property, which 
an invading enemy could easily turn against ourselves and the 
neighboring States, and that as we were allowed a representa- 
tion for them in the House of Representatives, our influence 
in government would be increased in proportion as we were 
less able to defend ourselves. " Show some period," said the 
members from the Eastern States, "when it may be in our 
power to put a stop, if we please, to the importation of this 
weakness, and we will endeavor, for your convenience, to re- 
strain the religious and political prejudices of our people on 
this subject." 

The Middle States and Virginia made us no such proposi- 
tion ; they were for an immediate and total prohibition. We 
endeavored to obviate the objections that were made in the 
best manner we could, and assigned reasons for our insisting 
on the importation, which there is no occasion to repeat, as 
they must occur to every gentleman in the house : a commit- 
tee of the States was appointed in order to accommodate this 
matter, and after a great deal of difficulty, it was- settled on 
the footing recited in the Constitution. 



A PRO-SLAVERY COMPACT. 103 

By this settlement we have secured an unlimited importa- 
tion of negroes for twenty years ; nor is it declared that the 
importation shall be then stopped; it may be continued — we 
have a security that the General Government can never eman- 
cipate them, for no such authority's granted, and it is admit- 
ted on all hands, that the General Government has no powers 
but what are expressly granted by the Constitution ; and that 
all rights not expressed were reserved by the several States. 
We have obtained a right to recover our slaves, in whatever 
part of America they may take refuge, which is a right we 
had not before. In short, considering all circumstances, we 
have made the best terms, for the security of this species of 
property, it was in our power to make. We would have made 
better if we could, but on the whole I do not think them bad. 

Hon. Robert Barnwell. Mr. Barnwell continued to 
say, I now come to the last point for consideration ; I mean 
the clause relative to the negroes ; and here I am particularly 
pleased with the Constitution ; it has not left this matter, of so 
much importance to us, open to immediate investigation ; no, 
it has declared that the United States shall not, at any rate, 
consider this matter for twenty-one years ; and yet gentlemen 
are displeased with it. 

Congress has guaranteed this right for that space of time, 
and at its expiration may continue it as long as they please. 
This question then arises, what will their interest lead them 
to do ? The Eastern States, as the honorable gentleman says, 
will become the carriers of America ; it will, therefore, certain- 
ly be their interest to encourage exportation to as great an 
extent as possible ; and if the quantum of our products will 
be diminished by the prohibition of negroes, I appeal to the 
belief of every man, whether he thinks those very carriers 
will themselves dam up the resources from whence their profit 
is derived ? To think so is. so contradictory to the general 
conduct of mankind, that I am of opinion, that without we 
ourselves put a stop to them, the traffic for negroes will con- 
tinue forever. 



104 THE CONSTITUTION 

FEDERALIST, No. 42. 

BY JAMES MADISON. 

It were doubtless to be wished, that the power of prohibit- 
ing the importation of slaves, had not been postponed until 
the year 1808, or rather that it had been 'suffered to have im- 
mediate operation. But it is not difficult to account either for 
this restriction on the General Government, or for the manner 
in which the whole clause is expressed. 

It ought to be considered as a great point gained in favor 
of humanity, that a period of twenty years may terminate for 
ever within these States, a traffic which has so long and so 
loudly upbraided the barbarism of modern policy ; that within 
that period, it will receive a considerable discouragement from 
the Federal Government, and may be totally abolished by a 
concurrence of the few States which continue the unnatural 
traffic in the prohibitory example which has been given by so 
great a majority of the Union. Happy would it be for the 
unfortunate Africans, if an equal prospect lay before them, of 
being redeemed from the oppressions of their European breth- 
ren ! Attempts have been made to pervert this clause into an 
objection against the Constitution, by representing it on one 
side, as a criminal toleration of an illicit practice ; and on an- 
other, as calculated to prevent voluntary and beneficial emi- 
grations from Europe to America. I mention these miscon- 
structions, not with a view to give them an answer, for they 
deserve none ; but as specimens of the manner and spirit in 
which some have thought fit to conduct their opposition to the 
proposed government. 



FEDERALIST, No. 54. 

BY JAMES MADISON. 

All this is admitted, it will perhaps be said : but does it 
follow from an admission of numbers for the measure of rep- 
resentation, or of slaves combined with free citizens as a ratio 



A PRO-SLAVERY COMPACT. 105 

of taxation, that slaves ought to be included in the numerical 
rule of representation ? 

Slaves are considered as property, not as persons. They 
ought, therefore, to be comprehended in estimates of taxation, 
which are founded on property, and to be excluded from rep- 
resentation, which is regulated by a census of persons. This 
is the objection as I understand it, stated in its full force. I 
shall be equally candid in stating the reasoning which may be 
offered on the opposite side. We subscribe to the doctrine, 
might one of our Southern brethren observe, that representa- 
tion relates more immediately to persons, and taxation more 
immediately to property; and we join in the application of 
this distinction to the case of our slaves. 

But we must deny the fact, that slaves are considered mere- 
ly as property, and in no respect whatever as persons. The 
true state of the case is, that they partake of both these qual- 
ities, being considered by our laws, in some respects as per- 
sons, and in other respects as property. 

In being compelled to labor, not for himself, but for a mas- 
ter ; in being vendible by one master to another master ; and 
in being subject at all times to be restrained in his liberty and 
chastised in his body by the capricious will of another; the 
slave may appear to be degraded from the human rank, and 
classed with those irrational animals which fall under the legal 
denomination of property. In being protected, on the other 
hand, in his life, and in his limbs, against the violence of all 
others, even the master of his" labor and his liberty; and in 
being punishable himself for all violence committed against 
others ; the slave is no less evidently regarded by the law as 
a member of the society, not as a part of the irrational crea- 
tion ; as a moral person, not as a mere article of property. 
The Federal Constitution, therefore, decides with great pro- 
priety on the case of our slaves, when it views them in the 
mixed character of persons and property. This is in fact 
their true character. It is the character bestowed on them by 
the laws under which they live, and it will not be denied, that 



106 THE CONSTITUTION 

these are the proper criterion ; because it is only under the 
pretext, that the laws have transformed the negroes into sub- 
jects of property, that a place is disputed them in the compu- 
tation of numbers ; and it is admitted, that if the laws were to 
restore the rights which have been taken away, the negroes 
eould no longer be refused an equal share of representation 
with the other inhabitants. 

This question may be placed in another light. It is agreed 
on all sides, that numbers are the best scale of wealth and 
taxation, as they are the only "proper scale of representation. 
Would the Convention have been impartial or consistent, if 
they had rejected the slaves from the list of inhabitants, when 
the shares of representation were to be calculated, and in- 
serted them on the lists when the tariff of contributions was to 
be adjusted ? 

Could it be reasonably expected, that the Southern States 
would concur in a system, which considered their slaves in 
some degree as men when burdens were to be imposed, but 
refused to consider them in the same light when advantages 
were to be conferred ? 

Might not some surprise also be expressed, that those who 
reproach the Southern States with the barbarous policy of 
considering as property a part of their human brethren, should 
themselves contend, that the government to which all the States 
are to be parties, ought to consider this unfortunate race more 
completely in the unnatural light of property, than the very 
laws of which they complain ? 

It may be replied, perhaps, that slaves are not included in 
the estimate of representatives in any of the States possessing 
them. They neither vote themselves, nor increase the votes 
of their masters. Upon what principle, then, ought they to 
be taken into the Federal estimate of representation ? In re- 
jecting them altogether, the Constitution would, in this respect, 
have followed the very laws which have been appealed to as 
the proper guide. 

This objection is repelled by a single observation. It is a 



A PRO-SLAVERY COMPACT. 107 

fundamental principle of the proposed Constitution, that as 
the aggregate number of representatives allotted to the sev- 
eral States is to be determined by a Federal rule, founded on 
the aggregate number of inhabitants, so the right of choosing 
this allotted number in each State is to be exercised by such 
part of the inhabitants as the State itself may designate. The 
qualifications on which the right of suffrage depends are not, 
perhaps, the same in any two States. In some of the States 
the difference is very material. In every State a certain pro- 
portion of inhabitants are deprived of this right by the Con- 
stitution of the State, who will be included in the census by 
which the Federal Constitution apportions the representatives. 
In this point of view, the Southern States might retort the 
complaint, by insisting that the principle laid down by the 
Convention required that no regard should be had to the poli- 
cy of particular States towards their own inhabitants; and, 
consequently, that the slaves, as inhabitants, should have been 
admitted into the census according to their full number, in 
like manner with other inhabitants, who, by the policy of other 
States, are not admitted to all the rights of citizens. A rig- 
orous adherence, however, to this principle is waived by those 
who would be gainers by it. All that they ask is, that equal 
moderation be shown on the other side. Let the case of the 
slaves be considered, as it is in truth, a peculiar one. Let 
the compromising expedient of the Constitution be mutually 
adopted, which regards them as inhabitants, but as debased 
by servitude below the equal level of free inhabitants, which 
regards the slave as divested of two fifths of the man. 



DEBATES IN FIRST CONGRESS. 

Lloyd's debates. 

May 13, 1789. 
Mr. Parker (of Va.) moved to insert a clause in the bill, 
imposing a duty on the importation of slaves of ten dollars 



108 THE CONSTITUTION 

each person. He was sorry that the Constitution prevented 
Congress from prohibiting the importation altogether; he 
thought it a defect in that instrument that it allowed of such 
actions ; it was contrary to the revolution principles, and ought 
not to be permitted ; but as he could not do all the good he 
desired, he was > willing to do what lay in his power. He 
hoped such a duty as he moved for would prevent, in some 
degree, this irrational and inhuman traffic : if so, he should 
feel happy from the success of his motion. 

Mr. Smith (of South Carolina) hoped that such an im- 
portant and serious proposition as this would not be hastily 
adopted ; it was a very late moment for the introduction of 
new subjects. He expected the committee had got through 
the business, and would rise without discussing any thing 
further ; at least, if gentlemen were determined on consider- 
ing the present motion, he hoped they would delay for a few 
days, in order to give time for an examination of the subject. 
It was certainly a matter big with the most serious conse- 
quences to the State he represented. He did not think any 
one thing that had been discussed was so important to them 
and the welfare of the Union as the question now brought for- 
ward ; but he was not prepared to enter on any argument, and 
therefore requested the motion might either be withdrawn or 
laid on the table. 

Mr. Sherman (of Ct.) approved of the object of the mo- 
tion, but he did not think this bill was proper to embrace the 
subject. He could not reconcile* himself to the insertion of 
human beings, as an article of duty, among goods, wares, and 
merchandise. He hoped it would be withdrawn for the pres- 
ent, and taken up hereafter as an independent subject. 

Mr. Jackson (of Geo.) observing the quarter from which 
this motion came, said*it did not surprise him, though it might 
have that effect on others. He recollected that Virginia was 
an old settled State, and had her complement of slaves ; so 
she was careless of recruiting her numbers by this means. 
The natural increase of her imported blacks was sufficient 



A PRO-SLAVERY COMPACT. 109 

for her purpose ; but he thought gentlemen ought to let their 
neighbors get supplied before they imposed such a burden 
upon the importation. He knew this business was viewed in 
an odious light to the Eastward, because the people were ca- 
pable of doing their own work, and had no occasion for slaves ; 
but gentlemen will have some feeling for others ; they will 
not try to throw all the weight upon others, who have assist- 
ed in lightening their burdens ; they do not wish to charge us 
for every comfort and enjoyment of life, and at the same time 
take away the means of procuring them; they do not wish to 
break us down at once. 

He was convinced, from the inaptitude of the motion, and 
the want of time to consider it, that the candor of the gentle- 
man would induce him to withdraw it for the present ; and if 
ever it came forward again, he hoped it would comprehend the 
white slaves as well as black, who were imported from all the 
jails of Europe ; wretches, convicted of the most flagrant 
crimes, were brought in and sold without any duty whatever. 
He thought that they ought to be taxed equal to the Africans, 
and had no doubt but the constitutionality and propriety of 
such a measure were equally apparent as the one proposed. 

Mr. Tucker (of S. C.) thought it unfair to bring in such 
an important subject at a time when debate was almost pre- 
cluded. The committee had gone through the impost bill, 
and the whole Union were impatiently expecting the result 
of their deliberations ; the public must be disappointed, and 
much revenue lost, or this question cannot undergo that full 
discussion which it deserves. 

We have no right, said he, to consider whether the importa- 
tion of slaves is proper or not ; the Constitution gives us no 
power on that point ; it is left to the States to judge of that 
matter as they see fit. But if it was a business the gentle- 
man was determined to discourage, he ought to have brought 
his motion forward sooner, and even then not have introduced 
it without previous notice. He hoped the committee would 
reject the motion, if it was not withdrawn ; he was not speak- 
10 



110 THE CONSTITUTION 

ing so much for the State he represented, as for Georgia, be 
cause the State of South Carolina had a prohibitory law, 
which could be renewed when its limitation expired. 

Mr. Parker (of Va.) had ventured to introduce the sub- 
ject after full deliberation, and did not like to withdraw it. 
Although the gentleman from Connecticut (Mr. Sherman) 
had said that they ought not to be enumerated with goods, 
wares, and merchandise, he believed they were looked upon 
by the African traders in this light. He knew it was degrading 
the human species to annex that character to them ; but he 
would rather do this than continue the actual evil of import- 
ing slaves a moment longer. He hoped Congress would do 
all that lay in their power to restore to human nature its in- 
herent privileges, and, if possible, wipe off the stigma which 
America labored under. The inconsistency in our principles 
with which we are justly charged, should be done away ; that 
we may show by our actions the pure beneficence of the doc- 
trine we held out to the world in our Declaration of Inde- 
pendence. 

Mr. Sherman (of Ct.) thought the principle of the motion 
and the principle of the bill were inconsistent : the principle 
of the bill was to raise revenue, the principle of the motion 
to correct a moral evil. * Now, considering it as an object of 
revenue, it would be unjust, because two or three States would 
bear the whole burden, while he believed they bore their full 
proportion of all the rest. He was against receiving the mo- 
tion into this bill, though he had no objection to taking it up 
by itself, on the principles of humanity and policy ; and there- 
fore would vote against it, if it was not withdrawn. 

Mr. Ames (of Mass.) joined the gentleman last up. No 
one could suppose him favorable to slavery ; he detested it 
from his soul ; but he had some , doubts whether imposing a 
duty on the importation would not have the appearance of 
countenancing the practice. It was certainly a subject of some 
delicacy, and no one appeared to be prepared for the discus- 
sion ; he therefore hoped the motion would be withdrawn. 



A PRO-SLAVERY COMPACT. Ill 

Mr. Livermore was not against the principle of the mo- 
tion, but in the present case he conceived it improper. If 
negroes were goods, wares, or merchandise, they came within 
the title of the bill ; if they were not, the bill would be incon- 
sistent ; but if they are goods, wares, or merchandise, the 5 
per cent, ad valorem, will embrace the importation ; and the 
duty of 5 per cent, is nearly equal to ten dollars per head ; so 
there is no occasion to add it, even on the score of revenue. 

Mr. Jackson (of Geo.) said it was the fashion of the day 
to favor the liberty of slaves. He would not go into a discus- 
sion of the subject, but he believed it was capable of demon- 
stration, that they were better off in their present situation 
than they would be if they were manumitted. What are they to 
do if they are discharged? Work for a living? Experience 
has shown us they will not. Examine what has become of 
those in Maryland ; many of them have been set free in that 
State ; did they turn themselves to industry and useful pur- 
suits? No, they turn out common pickpockets, petty larceny 
villains ; and is this mercy, forsooth, to turn them into a way 
in which they must lose their lives? — for where they are 
thrown upon the world, void of property and connections, 
they cannot get their living but by pilfering. What is to be 
done for compensation? Will Virginia set all her negroes 
free ? Will they give up the money they cost them ? and to 
whom? When this practice comes to be tried there, the 
sound of liberty will lose those charms which make it grateful 
to the ravished ear. 

But our slaves are not in a worse situation than they were 
on the coast of Africa. It is not uncommon there for the 
parents to sell their children in peace ; and in war the whole 
are taken and made slaves together. In these cases, it is only 
a change of one slavery for another ; and are they not better 
here, where they have a master bound by the ties of interest 
and law to provide for their support and comfort in old age, 
or infirmity, in which, if they were free, they would sink un- 
der the pressure of woe for want of assistance ? 



112 THE CONSTITUTION 

He would say nothing of the partiality of such a tax ; it was 
admitted by the avowed friends of the measure ; Georgia in 
particular would be oppressed. On this account it would be 
the most odious tax Congress could impose. 

Mr. Schureman (of N. J.) hoped the gentleman would 
withdraw his motion, because the present was not the time or 
place for introducing the business. He thought it had better 
be brought forward in the House as a distinct proposition. 
If the gentleman persisted in having the question determined, 
he would move the previous question, if he was supported. 

Mr. Madison, (of Va.) I cannot concur with gentlemen 
who think the present an improper time or place to enter into 
a discussion of the proposed motion. If it is taken up in a sep- 
arate view, we shall do the same thing at a greater expense 
of time. But the gentlemen say that it is improper to con- 
nect the two objects, because they do not come within the 
title of the bill. But this objection may be obviated by ac- 
commodating the title to the contents. There may be some in- 
consistency in combining the ideas which gentlemen have ex- 
pressed, that is, considering the human race as a species of 
property ; but the evil does not arise from adopting the clause 
now proposed ; it is from the importation to which it relates. 
Our object in enumerating persons on paper with merchan- 
dise is to prevent the practice of actually treating them as 
such, by having them, in future, forming part of the cargoes 
of goods, wares, and merchandise to be imported into the 
United States. The motion is calculated to avoid the very 
evil intimated by the gentleman. It has been said that this 
tax will be partial and oppressive ; but suppose a fair view 
is taken of this subject, I think we may form a different con- 
clusion. But if it be partial or oppressive, are there not 
many instances in which we have laid taxes of this nature ? 
Yet are they not thought to be justified by national policy ? 
If any article is warranted on this account, how much more 
are we authorized to proceed on this occasion ? The dictates 
of humanity, the principles of the people, the national safety 



A PRO-SLAVERY COMPACT. 113 

and happiness, and prudent policy, require it of us. The 
Constitution has particularly called our attention to it ; and 
of all the articles contained in the bill before us, this is one 
of the last I should be willing to make a concession upon, so 
far as I am at liberty to go, according to the terms of the 
Constitution or principles of justice. I would not have it 
understood that my zeal would carry me to disobey the invi- 
olable commands of either. 

I understood it had been intimated, that the motion was 
inconsistent or unconstitutional. I believe, sir, my worthy 
colleague has formed the words with a particular reference to 
the Constitution. Any how, so far as the duty is expressed, it 
perfectly accords with, that instrument; if there are any 
inconsistencies in it, they may be rectified. I believe the in- 
tention is well understood, but I am far from supposing the 
diction improper. If the description of the persons does not 
accord with the idea of the gentleman from Georgia, (Mr. 
Jackson,) and his idea is a proper one for the committee to 
adopt, I see no difficulty in changing the phraseology. 

I conceive the Constitution, in this particular, was formed 
in order that the government, whilst it was restrained from 
laying a total prohibition, might be able to give some testi- 
mony of the sense of America with respect to the African 
trade. We have liberty to impose a tax or duty upon the 
importation of such persons as any of the States now exist- 
ing shall think proper to admit ; and this liberty was granted, 
I presume, upon two considerations — the first was, that until 
the time arrived when they might abolish the importation of 
slaves, they might have an opportunity of evidencing their 
sentiments on the policy and humanity of such a trade ; the 
other was, that they might be taxed in due proportion with 
other articles imported ; for if the possessor will consider them 
as property, of course they are of value, and ought to be paid 
for. If gentlemen are apprehensive of oppression from the 
weight of the tax, let them make an estimate of its propor- 
tion, and they will find that it very little exceeds five per cent* 
10* 



114 THE CONSTITUTION 

ad valorem, so that they will gain very little by having them 
thrown into that mass of articles ; whilst by selecting them in 
the manner proposed, we shall fulfil the prevailing expecta- 
tion of our fellow-citizens, and perform our duty in executing 
the purposes of the Constitution. It is to be hopej that by 
expressing a national disapprobation of this trade, we may 
destroy it, and save ourselves from reproaches, and our pos- 
terity the imbecility ever attendant on a country filled with 
slaves. 

I do not wish to say any thing harsh to the hearing of gen- 
tlemen who entertain different sentiments from me, or different 
sentiments from those I represent ; but if there is any one 
point in which it is clearly the policy of this nation, so far as 
we constitutionally can, to vary the practice obtaining under 
some of the State governments, it is this ; but it is certain a 
majority of the States are opposed to this practice ; therefore, 
upon principle, we ought to discountenance it as far as is in 
our power. 

If I was not afraid of being told that the representatives 
of the several States are the best able to judge of what is 
proper and conducive to their particular prosperity, I should 
venture to say that it is as much the interest of Georgia and 
South Carolina as of any in the Union. Every addition they 
receive to their number of slaves tends to weaken them, and 
renders them less capable of self-defence. In case of hostil- 
ities with foreign nations, they will be the means of inviting 
attack, instead of repelling invasion. It is a necessary duty 
of the General Government to protect every part of the em- 
pire against danger, as well internal as external ; every thing, 
therefore, which tends to increase this danger, though it may 
be a local affair, yet, if it involves national expense or safety, 
becomes of concern to every part of the Union, and is a 
proper subject for the consideration of those charged with the 
general administration of the government. I hope, in making 
these observations, I shall not be understood to mean that a 
proper attention ought not to be paid to the local opinions and 



A PRO-SLAVERY COMPACT. 115 

circumstances of any part of the United States, or that the 
particular representatives are not best able to judge of the 
sense of their immediate constituents. 

If we examine the proposed measure by the agreement 
there is between it and the existing State laws, it will show 
us that it is patronized by a very respectable part of the 
Union. I am informed that South Carolina has prohibited 
the importation of slaves for several years yet to come : we 
have the satisfaction, then, of reflecting that we do nothing 
more than her own laws do at this moment. This is not the 
case with one State. I am sorry that her situation is such as 
to seem to require a population of this nature; but it is im- 
possible, in the nature of things, to consult the national good 
without doing what we do not wish to do to some particular 
part. Perhaps gentlemen contend against the introduction of 
the clause on too slight grounds. If it does not conform with 
the title of the bill, alter the latter ; if it does not conform to 
the precise terms of the Constitution, amend it ; but if it 
will tend to delay the whole bill, that, perhaps, will be the 
best reason for making it the object of a separate one. If 
this is the sense of the committee, I shall submit. 

Mr. Gerry (of Mass.) thought all duties ought to be laid 
as equal as possible. He had endeavored to enforce this 
principle yesterday, but without the success he wished for. 
He was bound by the principles of justice, therefore, to 
vote for the proposition ; but if the committee were desirous 
of considering the subject fully by itself, he had no objection ; 
but he thought when gentlemen laid down a principle, they 
ought to support it generally. 

Mr. Burke (of S. C.) said, gentlemen were contending for 
nothing ; that the value of a slave averaged about £80, and 
the duty on that sum, at five per cent., would be ten dollars. 
As Congress could go no further than that sum, he conceived 
it made no difference whether they were enumerated or left 
in the common mass. 

Mr. Madison, (of Va.) If we contend for nothing, the 



116 - THE CONSTITUTION 

gentlemen who are opposed to us do not contend for a great 
deal ; but the question is, whether the five per cent, ad valo- 
rem on all articles imported, will have any operation at all 
upon the introduction of slaves, unless we make a particular 
enumeration on this account. The collector may mistake, for 
he would not presume ' to apply the term goods, wares, and 
merchandise to any person whatsoever. But if that general 
definition of goods, wares, and merchandise is supposed to 
include African slaves, why may we not particularly enumer- 
ate them, and lay the duty pointed out by the Constitution, 
which, as gentlemeu tell us, is no more than five per cent, 
upon their value? This will not increase the burden upon any, 
but it will be that manifestation of our sense, expected by our 
constituents, and demanded by justice and humanity. 

Mr. Bland (of Va.) had no doubt of the propriety or good 
policy of this measure. He had made up his mind upon it ; 
he wished slaves had never been introduced into America,* 
but if it was impossible at this time to cure the evil, he was 
Very willing to join in any measures that would prevent its 
extending farther. He had some doubts whether the prohibi- 
tory laws of the States were not in part repealed. Those who 
had endeavored to discountenance this trade, by laying a duty 
on the importation, were prevented by the Constitution from 
continuing such regulation, which declares that no State shall 
lay any impost or duties on imports. If this was the case, 
and he suspected pretty strongly that it was, the necessity of 
adopting the proposition of his colleague was now apparent. 

Mr. Sherman (of Ct.) said, the Constitution does not con- 
sider these persons as a species of property ; it speaks of them 
as persons, and says that a tax or duty may be imposed on 
the importation of them into any State which shall permit the 
same, but they have no power to prohibit such importation for 
twenty years. But Congress have power to declare upon 
what terms persons coming into the United States shall be 
entitled to citizenship ; the rule of naturalization must, how- 
ever, be uniform. He was convinced there were others ought 



A PRO-SLAVERY COMPACT. 117 

to be regulated in this particular, the importation of whom was 
of an evil tendency; he meant convicts particularly. He 
thought that some regulation respecting them was also proper ; 
but it being a different subject, it ought to be taken up in a 
different manner. 

Mr. Madison (of Va.) was led to believe, from the obser- 
vation that had fallen from the gentleman, that it would be best 
to make this the subject of a distinct bill : he therefore wished 
his colleague would withdraw his motion, and move in the 
House for leave to bring in a bill on the same principles. 

Mr. Parker (of Va.) consented to withdraw his motion, 
under a conviction that the House was fully satisfied of its pro- 
priety. He knew very well that these persons were neither 
goods nor wares, but they were treated as articles of mer- 
chandise. Although he wished to get rid of this part of his 
property, yet he should not consent to deprive other people of 
theirs by any act of his, without their consent. 

Thp. committee rose, reported progress, and the House 
adjourned. 

February 11th, 1790. 

Mr. Lawrence (of New York) presented an address from 
the Society of Friends in the city of New York ; in which 
they set forth their desire of cooperating with their Southern 
brethren. 

Mr. Hartley (of Penn.) then moved to refer the address 
of the annual assembly of Friends, held at Philadelphia, to a 
committee. He thought it a mark of respect due so numer- 
ous and respectable a part of the community. 

Mr. White (of Va.) seconded the motion. 

Mr. Smith, (of S. C.) However respectable the petition- 
ers may be, I hope gentlemen will consider that others equally 
respectable are opposed to the object which is aimed at, and 
are entitled to an opportunity of being heard before the ques- 
tion is determined. I flatter myself gentlemen will not press 
the point of commitment to-day, it being contrary to our usual 
mode of procedure. 



118 THE CONSTITUTION 

Mr. Fitzsimons, (of Penn.) If we were now about to 
determine the final question, the observation 7 of the gentleman 
from South Carolina would apply ; but, sir, the present ques- 
tion does not touch upon the merits of the case ; it is merely 
to refer the memorial to a committee, to consider what is prop- 
er to be done. Gentlemen, therefore, who do not mean to op- 
pose the commitment to-morrow may as well agree to it to-day, 
because it will tend to save the time of the House. 

Mr. Jackson (of Ga.) wished to know why the second 
reading was to be contended for to-day, when it was diverting 
the attention of members from the great object that was before 
the committee of the whole ? Is it because the feelings of the 
Friends will be hurt to have their affair conducted in the 
usual course of business ? Gentlemen who advocate the sec- 
ond reading to-day, should respect the feelings of the members 
who represent that part of the Union which is principally to 
be affected by the measure. I believe, sir, that the latter class 
consists of as useful and as good citizens as the. petitioners, 
men equally friends to the revolution, and equally susceptible 
of the refined sensations of humanity and benevolence. Why, 
then, should such particular attention be paid to them, for 
bringing forward a business of questionable policy ? If Con- 
gress are disposed to interfere in the importation of slaves, 
they can take the subject up without advisers, because the 
Constitution expressly mentions all the power they can exer- 
cise on the subject. 

Mr. Sherman (of Conn.) suggested the idea of referring it 
to a committee, to consist of a member from each State, be- 
cause several States had already made some regulations on 
this subject. The sooner the subject was taken up, he thought 
it would be the better. 

Mr. Parker, (of Va.) I hope, Mr. Speaker, the petition 
of these respectable people will be attended to with all the 
readiness the importance of its object demands ; and I cannot 
help expressing the pleasure I feel in finding so considerable 
a part of the community attending to matters of such momen- 



A PRO-SLAVERY COMPACT. 119 

tous concern to the future prosperity and happiness of the 
people of America. I think it my duty, as a citizen of the 
Union, to espouse their cause ; and it is incumbent upon every 
member of this House to sift the subject well, and ascertain 
what can be done to restrain a practice so nefarious. The 
Constitution has authorized us to levy a tax upon the importa- 
tion of sucli persons as the States shall authorize to be admit- 
ted. I would, willingly go to that extent ; and if any thing 
further can be devised to discountenance the trade, consistent 
with the terms of the Constitution, I shall cheerfully give it 
my assent and support. 

Mr. Madison, (of Va.) The gentleman from Pennsylva- 
nia, (Mr. Fitzsimons,) has put this question on its proper 
ground. If gentlemen do not mean to oppose the commitment 
to-morrow, they may as well acquiesce in it to-day ; and I 
apprehend gentlemen need not be alarmed at any measure it 
is likely Congress should take ; because they will recollect 
that the Constitution secures to the individual States the right 
of admitting, if they think proper, the importation of slaves 
into their own territory for eighteen years yet unexpired ; 
subject, however, to a tax, if Congress are disposed to impose 
it, of not more than ten dollars on each person. 

The petition, if I mistake not, speaks of artifices used by 
self-interested persons to carry on this trade ; and the petition 
from New York states a case that may require the considera- 
tion of Congress. If any thing is within the Federal author- 
ity to restrain such violation of the rights of nations, and of 
mankind, as is supposed to be practised in some parts of the 
United States, it will certainly tend to the interest and honor 
of the community to attempt a remedy, and is a proper sub- 
ject for our discussion. It may be that foreigners take advan- 
tage of the liberty afforded them by the American trade, to 
employ our shipping in the slave trade between Africa and 
the West Indies, when they are restrained from employing 
their own by restrictive laws of their nation. If this is the 
case, is there any person of humanity that would not wish to 



120 THE CONSTITUTION 

prevent them ? Another consideration why we should com- 
mit the petition is, that we may give no ground of alarm by a 
serious opposition, as if we were about to take measures that 
were unconstitutional. 

Mr. Stone (of Md.) feared that if Congress took any meas- 
ures indicative of an intention to interfere with the kind of 
property alluded to, it would sink it in value very considera- 
bly, and might be injurious to a great number of the citizens, 
particularly in the Southern States. 

He thought the subject was of general concern, and that the 
petitioners had no more right to interfere with it than any 
other members of the community. It was an unfortunate cir- 
cumstance that it was the propensity of sects to imagine they 
understood the rights of human nature better than all the 
world beside ; and that they would, in consequence, be med- 
dling with concerns in which they had nothing to do. 

As the petition relates to a subject of a general nature, it 
ought to lie on the table as information. He would never con- 
sent to refer petitions, unless the petitioners were exclusively 
interested. Suppose there was a petition to come before us 
from a society, praying us to be honest in our transactions, or 
that we should administer the Constitution according to its 
intention — what would you do with a petition of this kind ? 
Certainly it would remain on your table. He would, never- 
theless, not have it supposed that the people had not a right 
to advise and give their opinion upon public measures ; but he 
would not be influenced by that advice or opinion to take up 
a subject sooner than the convenience of other business would 
admit. Unless he changed his sentiments, he would oppose 
the commitment. 

Mr. Burke (of S. C.) thought gentlemen were paying at- 
tention to what did not deserve it. The men in the gallery 
had come here to meddle in a business with which they had 
nothing to do ; they were volunteering it in the cause of others, 
who neither expected nor desired it. He had a respect for 
the body of Quakers, but, nevertheless, he did not believe they 



A PRO-SLAVERY COMPACT. 121 

had more virtue or religion than other people, nor perhaps so 
much, if they were examined to the bottom, notwithstanding 
their outward pretences. If their petition is to be noticed, 
Congress ought to wait till counter applications were made, 
and then they might have the subject more fairly before them. 
The rights of the Southern States ought not to be threatened, 
and their property endangered, to please people who were to 
be unaffected by the consequences. 

Mr. Hartley (of Penn.) thought the memorialists did not 
deserve to be aspersed for their conduct, if, influenced by mo- 
tives of benignity, they solicited the legislature of the Union 
to repel, as far as in their power, the increase of a licentious 
traffic. Nor do they merit censure, because their behavior 
has the appearance of more morality than other people's. But 
it is not for Congress to refuse to hear the applications of their 
fellow-citizens, while those applications contain nothing uncon- 
stitutional or offensive. What is the object of the address 
before us ? It is intended to bring before this' House a subject 
of great importance to the cause of humanity ; there are cer- 
tain facts to be inquired into, and the memorialists are ready 
to give all the information in their power ; they are waiting, 
at a great distance from their homes, and wish to return. If, 
then, it will be proper to commit the petition to-morrow, it will 
be equally proper to-day, for it is conformable, to our practice ; 
beside, it will tend to their conveniency. 

Mr. Lawrence, (of N. Y.) The gentleman from South 
Carolina says the petitioners are of a society not known in 
the laws or Constitution. Sir, in all our acts, as well as in 
the Constitution, we have noticed this society ; Or why is it 
that we admit them to affirm in cases where others are called 
upon to swear ? If we pay this attention to them in one in- 
stance, what good reason is there for contemning them in an- 
other ? I think the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Stone) 
carries his apprehensions too far, when he fears that negro 
property will fall in value by the suppression of the slave 
trade ; not that I suppose it immediately in the power of 
11 



122 THE CONSTITUTION 

Congress to abolish a traffic which is a disgrace to human 
nature ; but it appears to me, that, if the importation was 
crushed, the value of a slave would be increased instead of 
diminished ; however, considerations of this kind have nothing 
to do with the present question ; gentlemen may acquiesce in 
the commitment of the memorial, without pledging themselves 
to support its object. 

Mr. Jackson, (of Ga.) I differ much in opinion, with the 
gentleman last up. I apprehend if, through the interference 
of the General Government, the slave trade was abolished, it 
would evince to the people a disposition towards a total eman- 
cipation, and they would hold their property in jeopardy. Any 
extraordinary attention of Congress to this petition may have, 
in some degree, a similar effect. I would beg to ask those, 
then, who are so desirous of freeing the negroes, if they have 
funds sufficient to pay for them ? If they have, they may 
come forward on that business with some propriety ; but, if 
they have not, they should keep themselves quiet, and not 
interfere with a business in which they are not interested. 
They may as well come forward, and solicit Congress to inter- 
dict the West India trade, because it is injurious to the morals 
of mankind : from thence we import rum, which has a debas- 
ing influence upon the consumer. But, sir, is the whole mo- 
rality of the United States confined to the Quakers ? Are 
they the only people whose feelings are to be consulted on 
this occasion ? Is it to them we owe our present happiness ? 
Was it they who formed the Constitution ? Did they, by their 
arms or contributions, establish our independence ? I believe 
they were generally opposed to that measure. Why, then, on 
their application, shall we injure men, who, at the risk of their 
lives and fortunes, secured to the community their liberty and 
property ? If Congress pay any uncommon degree of atten- 
tion to their petition, it will furnish just ground of alarm to 
the Southern States. But why do these men set themselves 
up, in such a particular manner, against slavery ? Do they 
understand the rights of mankind and the disposition of Prov- 



A PRO-SLAVERY COMPACT. 123 

idence better than others ? If they were to consult that Book 
which claims our regard, they will find that slavery is not only 
allowed, but commended. Their Saviour, who possessed more 
benevolence and commiseration than they pretend to, has al- 
lowed of it. And if they fully examine the subject, they will 
find that slavery has been no novel doctrine since the days of 
Cain. But be these things as they may, I hope the House 
will order the petition to lie on the table, in order to prevent 
alarming our Southern brethren. 

Mr. Sedgwick, (of Mass.) If it was a serious question, 
whether the Memorial should be committed or not, I would 
not urge it at this time ; but that cannot be a question for a 
moment, if we consider our relative situation with the people. 
A number of men — who are certainly very respectable, and 
of whom, as a society, it may be said, with truth, that they 
conform their moral conduct to their religious tenets as much 
as any people in the whole community — come forward and 
tell you that you may effect two objects by the exercise of a 
Constitutional authority which will give great satisfaction. On 
the one hand, you may acquire revenue, and on the other, re- 
strain a practice productive of great evil. Now, setting aside 
the religious motives which influenced their application, have 
they not a right, as citizens, to give their opinion of public 
measures ? For my part, I do not apprehend that any State, 
or any considerable number of individuals in any State, will 
be seriously alarmed at the commitment of the petition, from 
a fear that Congress intend to exercise an unconstitutional 
authority, in order to violate their rights. I believe there is 
not a wish of the kind entertained jby any member of this 
body. How can gentlemen hesitate, then, to pay that respect 
to a memorial which it is entitled to, according to the ordinary 
mode of procedure s in business ? Why shall we defer doing 
that till to-morrow, which we can do to-day ? for the result, I 
apprehend, will be the same in either case. 

Mr. Smith, (of S. C.) The question, I apprehend, is, 
' whether we will take the petition up for a second reading, and 



124 THE CONSTITUTION 

not whether it shall be committed. Now, I oppose this, be- 
cause it is contrary to our usual practice, and does not allow 
gentlemen time to consider of the merits of the prayer. Per- 
haps some gentlemen may think it improper to commit it to 
so large a committee as has been mentioned ; a variety of causes 
may be supposed to show that such a hasty decision is im- 
proper ; perhaps the prayer of it is improper. If I under- 
stood it right, on its first reading, — though, to be sure, I did not 
comprehend perfectly all that the petition contained, — it prays 
that we should take measures for the abolition of the slave 
trade. This is desiring an unconstitutional act, because the 
Constitution secures that trade to the States, independent of 
congressional restrictions, for the term of twenty-one years. 
If, therefore, it prays for a violation of constitutional rights, 
it ought to be rejected as an attempt upon the virtue and pa- 
triotism of the House. 

Mr. Boudinot, (of N. J.) It has been said that the 
Quakers have no right to interfere in this business. I am 
surprised to hear this doctrine advanced, after it has been so 
lately contended, and settled, that the people have' a right to 
assemble and petition for redress of grievances. It is not be- 
cause the petition comes from the Society of Quakers that I 
am in favor of the commitment, but because it comes from 
citizens of the United States, who are equally concerned in 
the welfare and happiness of their country as others. There 
certainly is no foundation for the apprehensions which seem 
to prevail in gentlemen's minds. If the petitioners were so 
uninformed as to suppose that Congress could be guilty of a 
violation of the Constitution, yet, I trust, we know our duty 
better than to be led astray by an application from any man, 
or set of men, whatever. I do not consider the merits of the 
main question to be before us ; it will be time enough to give 
our opinions upon that, when the committee have reported. 
If it is in our power, by recommendation, or any other way, 
to put a stop to the slave trade in America, I do not doubt of 
its policy ; but how far the Constitution will authorize us to 



A PRO-SLAVERY COMPACT. 125 

attempt to depress it, will be a question well worthy of our 
consideration. 

Mr. Sherman (of Conn.) observed, that the petitioners from 
New York stated, that they had applied to the legislature of 
that State to prohibit certain practices which they conceived 
to be improper, and which tended to injure the well-being of 
the community ; that the legislature had considered the appli- 
cation, but had applied no remedy, because they supposed that 
power was exclusively vested in the General Government, 
under the Constitution of the United States ; it would, there- 
fore, be proper to commit that petition, in order to ascertain 
what were the powers of the General Government in the case 
doubted by the legislature of New York. 

Mr. Gerry (of Mass.) thought gentlemen were out of order 
in entering upon the merits of the main question at this time, 
when they were considering the expediency of committing the 
petition ; he should, therefore, not follow them further in that 
track than barely to observe, that it was the right of the citi- 
zens to apply for redress in every case they conceived them- 
selves aggrieved in ; and it was the duty of Congress to afford 
redress, as far as is in their power. That their Southern 
brethren had been betrayed into the slave trade by the first 
settlers, was to be lamented ; they were not to be reflected on 
for not viewing this subject in a different light — the prejudice 
of education is eradicated with difficulty ; but he thought noth- 
ing would excuse the General Government for not exerting 
itself to prevent, as far as they constitutionally could, the evils 
resulting from such enormities as were alluded to by the peti- 
tioners ; and the same considerations induced him highly to 
commend the part the Society of Friends had taken. It was 
the cause of humanity they^had interested themselves in ; and 
he wished, with them, to see measures pursued by every nation 
to w r ipe off the indelible stain which the slave trade had brought 
upon all who were concerned in it. 

Mr. Madison (of Va.) thought the question before the 
committee was no otherwise important than as gentlemen made 
11* 



126 THE CONSTITUTION 

it so by their serious opposition. Did they permit the com- 
mitment of the Memorial as a matter of course, no notice 
would be taken of it out of doors ; it could never be blown up 
into a decision of the question respecting the discouragement 
of the African slave trade, nor alarm the owners with an ap- 
prehension that the General Government were about to abol- 
ish slavery in all the States. Such things are not contemplated 
by any gentleman : but, to appearance, they decide the ques- 
tion more against themselves than would be the case if it was 
determined on its real merits, because gentlemen may be dis- 
posed to vote for the commitment of a petition, without any 
intention of supporting the prayer of it. 

Mr. White (of Va.) would not have seconded the motion, 
if he had thought it would have brought on a lengthy debate. 
He conceived that a business of this kind ought to be decided 
without much discussion ; it had constantly been the practice 
of the House, and he did not suppose there was any reason for 
a deviation. , 

Mr. Page (of Va.) said, if the Memorial had been presented 
by any individual, instead of the respectable body it was, he 
should have voted in favor of a commitment, because it was 
the duty of the legislature to attend to subjects brought before 
them by their constituents. If, upon inquiry, it was discovered 
to be improper to comply with the prayer of the petitioners, 
he would say so, and they would be satisfied. 

Mr. Stone (of Md.) thought the business ought to be left 
to take its usual course. By the rules of the House, it was 
expressly declared that petitions, memorials, and other papers, 
addressed to the House, should not be debated or decided on 
the day they were first read. 

Mr. Baldwin (of Ga.) felt at . a loss to account why pre- 
cipitation was used on this occasion, contrary to the customary 
usage of the House. He had not heard a single reason ad- 
vanced in favor of it. To be sure, it was said the petitioners 
are a respectable body of men. He did not deny it ; but, cer- 
tainly, gentlemen did not suppose they were paying respect, to 



A PRO-SLAVERY COMPACT. 127 

theni, or to the House, when they urged such a hasty proce- 
dure. Any how, it was contrary to his idea of respect, and 
the idea the House had always expressed when they had im- 
portant subjects under consideration ; and therefore he should 
be against the motion. He was afraid that there was really a 
little volunteering in this business, as it had been termed by 
the gentleman from Georgia. 

Mr. Huntington (of Conn.) considered the petitioners as 
much disinterested as any persons in the United States. He 
was persuaded they had an aversion to slavery ; yet they were 
not singular in this — others had the same ; and he hoped, 
when Congress took up the subject, they would go as far as 
possible to prohibit the evil complained of. But he thought 
that would better be done by considering it in the light of 
revenue. When the committee of the whole, on the finance 
business, came to the ways and means, it might properly be 
taken into consideration, without giving any ground for alarm. 

Mr. Tucker, (of S. C.) I have no doubt on my mind re- 
specting what ought to be done on this occasion. So far from 
committing the Memorial, we ought to dismiss it without fur- 
ther notice. What is the purport of the Memorial ? It is 
plainly this : to reprobate a particular kind of commerce, in a 
moral view, and to request the interposition of Congress to 
effect its abrogation. But Congress have no authority, under 
the Constitution, to do more than lay a duty of ten dollars 
upon each person imported ; and this is a political considera- 
tion, not arising from either religion or morality, and is the 
only principle upon which we can proceed to take it up. But 
what effect do these men suppose will arise from their exer- 
tions ? Will a duty of ten dollars diminish the importation ? 
Will the treatment be better than usual ? I apprehend it will 
not ; nay, it may be worse. Because an interference with the 
subject may excite a great degree of restlessness in the minds 
of those it is intended to serve, and that may be a cause for 
the masters to use more rigor towards them than they would 
otherwise exert. So that these men seem to overshoot 



128 THE CONSTITUTION 

their object. But if they will endeavor to procure the aboli- 
tion of the slave trade, let them prefer their petitions to the 
State legislatures, who alone have the power of forbidding the 
importation. I believe their applications there would be im- 
proper ; but if they are any where proper, it is there. I look 
upon the address, then, to be ill judged, however good the 
intention of the framers. 

Mr. Smith (of S. C.) claimed it as a right, that the petition 
should lie over till to-morrow. 

Mr. Boudinot (of N. J.) said it was not unusual to com- 
mit petitions on the day they were presented ; and the rules 
of the House admitted the practice by the qualification which 
followed the positive order, that petitions should not be decid- 
ed on the day they were .first read, " unless where the House 
shall direct otherwise!." 

Mr. Smith (of S. C.) declared his intention of calling the 
yeas and nays, if gentlemen persisted in pressing the question. 

Mr. Clymer (of Penn.) hoped the motion would be with- 
drawn for the present, and the business taken up in course to- 
morrow ; because, though he respected the memorialists, he 
also respected order and the situation of the members. 

Mr. Fitz simons (of Penn.) did not recollect whether he 
moved or seconded the motion ; but if he had, he should not 
withdraw it on account of the threat of calling the yeas and 
nays. 

Mr. Baldwin (of Ga.) hoped the business would be con- 
ducted with temper and moderation, and that gentlemen would 
concede, and pass the subject over for a day at least. 

Mr. Smith (of S. C.) had no idea of holding out a threat 
to any gentleman. If the declaration of an intention to call 
the yeas and nays was viewed by gentlemen in that light, he 
would withdraw that call. 

Mr. White (of Va.) hereupon withdrew his motion. And 
the address was ordered to lie on the table. 

February 12, 1790. 

The following memorial was presented and read : — 



A PRO-SLAVERY COMPACT. 129 

" To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
States : The Memorial of the Pennsylvania Society for pro- 
moting the abolition of slavery, the relief of free negroes 
unlawfully held in bondage, and the improvement of the con- 
dition of the African race, respectfully showeth : That from 
a regard for the happiness of mankind, an association was 
formed, several years since, in this State, by a number of her 
citizens, of various religious denominations, for promoting the 
abolition of slavery, and for the relief of those unlawfully held 
in bondage. A just and acute conception of the true princi- 
ples of liberty, as it spread through the land, produced acces- 
sions to their numbers, many friends to their cause, and a 
legislative cooperation with their views, which, by the blessing 
of Divine Providence, have been successfully directed to the 
relieving from bondage a large number of their fellow-crea- 
tures of the African race. They have also the satisfaction to 
observe, that, in consequence of that spirit of philanthropy 
and genuine liberty which is generally diffusing its beneficial 
influence, similar institutions are forming at home and abroad. 
That mankind are all formed by the same Almighty Being, 
alike objects of his care, and equally designed for the enjoy- 
ment of happiness, the Christian religion teaches us to believe, 
and the political creed of Americans fully coincides with the 
position. Your memorialists, particularly engaged in attend- 
ing to the distresses arising from slavery, believe it their in- 
dispensable duty to present this subject to your notice. They 
have observed with real satisfaction, that many important and 
salutary powers are vested in you for ' promoting the welfare 
and securing the blessings of liberty to the people of the 
United States ; ' and as they conceive that these blessings 
ought rightfully to be administered, without distinction of 
color, to all descriptions of people, so they indulge themselves 
in the pleasing expectation, that nothing which can be done 
for the relief of the unhappy objects of their care will be 
either omitted or delayed. From a persuasion that equal 
liberty was originally the portion, and is still the birthright, 



130 THE CONSTITUTION 

of all men, and influenced by the strong ties of humanity and 
the principles of their institution, your memorialists conceived 
themselves bound to use all justifiable endeavors to loosen the 
bands of slavery, and promote a general enjoyment of the 
blessings of freedom. Under these impressions, they earnestly 
entreat your serious attention to the subject of slavery ; that 
you will be pleased to countenance the restoration of liberty 
to those unhappy men, who alone, in this land of freedom, are 
degraded into perpetual bondage, and who, amidst the general 
joy of surrounding freemen, are groaning in servile subjec- 
tion ; that you will devise means for removing this inconsist- 
ency from the character of the American people ; that you 
will promote mercy and justice towards this distressed race ; 
and that you will step to the very verge of the power vested 
in you for discouraging every species of traffic in the persons 
of our fellow-men. 

" BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, President. 

" Philadelphia, February 3, 1790." 

Mr. Hartley (of Penn.) then called up the Memorial 
presented i yesterday, from the annual meeting of Friends at 
Philadelphia, for a second reading : whereupon the same was 
read a second time, and moved to be committed. 

Mr. Tucker (of S. C.) was sorry the petition had a sec- 
ond reading, as he conceived it contained an unconstitutional 
request, and from that consideration he wished it thrown aside. 
He feared the commitment of it would be a very alarming cir- 
cumstance to the Southern States ; for if the object was to 
engage Congress in an unconstitutional measure, it would be 
considered as an interference with their rights ; the people 
would become very uneasy under the government, and lament 
that they ever put additional powers into its hands. He 
was surprised to see another memorial on the same subject, 
and that signed by a man who ought to have known the Con- 
stitution better. He thought it a mischievous attempt, as it 
respected the persons in whose favor it was intended. It 
would buoy them up with hopes without a foundation ; and 



A PRO-SLAVERY COMPACT. 131 

as they could not reason on the subject as more enlightened 
men would, they might be led to do what they would be pun- 
ished for, and the owners of them, in their own defence, would 
be compelled to exercise over them a severity they were not 
accustomed to. Do these men expect a general emancipation 
of slaves by law ? This would never be submitted to by the 
Southern States without a civil war. Do they mean to pur- 
chase their freedom ? He believed their money would fall 
short of the price. But how is it they are more concerned in 
this business than others ? Are they the only persons who 
possess religion and morality ? If the people are not so ex- 
emplary, certainly they will admit the clergy are : why then 
do we not find them uniting in a body, praying us to adopt 
measures for the promotion of religion and piety, or any moral 
object ? They know it would be an improper interference ; 
and to say the best of this Memorial, it is an act of impru- 
dence, which he hoped would receive no countenance from 
the House. 

Mr. Seney (of Md.) denied that there was any thing un- 
constitutional in the Memorial ; at least, if there was, it had 
escaped his attention, and he should be obliged to the gentle- 
man to point it out. Its only object was, that Congress should 
exercise their constitutional authority to abate the horrors of 
slavery, as far as they could. Indeed, he considered that all 
altercation on the subject of commitment was at an end, as 
the House had impliedly determined yesterday that it should 
be committed. 

Mr. Burke (of S. C.) saw the disposition of the House, 
and he feared it would be referred to a committee, maugre all 
their opposition ; but he must insist that it prayed for an un- 
constitutional measure. Did it not desire Congress to inter- 
fere aild abolish the slave trade, while the Constitution ex- 
pressly stipulated that Congress should exercise no such 
power? He was certain the commitment would sound an 
alarm, and blow the trumpet of sedition in the Southern 
States. He was sorry to see the petitioners paid more atten- 



132 THE CONSTITUTION 

tion to than the Constitution ; however, he would do his duty, 
and oppose the business totally ; and if it was referred to a 
committee, as mentioned yesterday, consisting of a member 
from each state, and he was appointed, he would decline 
serving. n 

Mr. Scott, (of Penn.) I can't entertain a doubt but the 
Memorial is strictly agreeable to the Constitution : it respects 
a part of the duty particularly assigned to us by that instru- 
ment, and I hope we may be inclined to take it into consid- 
eration. We can, at present, lay our hands upon a small 
duty of ten dollars. I would take this, and if it is all we can 
do, we must be content. But I am sorry that the framers of 
the Constitution did not go farther, and enable us to interdict 
it for good and all ; for I look upon the slave trade to be one 
of the most abominable things on earth; and if there was 
neither God nor devil, I should oppose it upon the principles 
of humanity and the law of nature. I cannot, for my part, 
conceive how any person can be said to acquire a property in 
another. Is it by virtue of conquest? "What are the rights 
of conquest ? Some have dared to advance this monstrous 
principle, that the conqueror is absolute master of his con- 
quest ; that he may dispose of it as his property, and treat it 
as he pleases. But enough of those who reduce men to the 
state of transferable goods, or use them like beasts of burden ; 
who deliver them up as the property or patrimony of another 
man. Let us argue on principles countenanced by reason 
and becoming humanity. The petitioners view the subject in 
a religious light, but I do not stand in need of religious mo- 
tives to induce me to reprobate the traffic in human flesh ; 
other considerations weigh with me to support the commit- 
ment of the Memorial, and to support every constitutional 
measure likely to bring about its total abolition. Perhaps, in 
our legislative capacity, we can go no further than to impose 
a duty of ten dollars ; but I do not know how far I might go, 
if I was one of the judges of the United States, and those 
people were to come before me, and claim their emancipation ; 
but I am sure I would go as far as I could. 



A PRO-SLAVERY COMPACT. 133 

Mr. Jackson (of Ga.) differed with the gentleman last up, 
tnd supposed the master had a qualified property in his 
3lave. He said the contrary doctrine would go to the destruc- 
tion of every species of personal service. The gentleman 
said he did not stand in need of religion to induce him to rep- 
robate slavery ; but if he js guided by that evidence which the 
Christian system is founded upon, he will find that religion is 
not against it ; he will see, from Genesis to Revelation, the 
current setting strong that way. There never was a govern- 
ment on the face of the earth but what permitted slavery. 
The purest sons of freedom in the Grecian republics, the citi- 
zens of Athens and Lacedcemon, all held slaves. On this 
principle the nations of Europe are associated ; it is the basis 
of the feudal system. But suppose all this to have been 
wrong : let me ask the gentleman if it is policy to bring for- 
ward a business at this moment, likely to light up a flame of 
civil discord? For the people of the Southern States will resist 
one tyranny as soon as another. The other parts of the con- 
tinent may bear them down by force of arms, but they will 
never suffer themselves to be divested of their property with- 
out a struggle. The gentleman says, if he was a federal 
judge, he does not know to what length he would go in eman- 
cipating these people ; but I believe his judgment would be 
of short duration in Georgia ; perhaps even the existence of 
such a judge might be in danger. 

Mr. Sherman (of Conn.) could see no difficulty in com- 
mitting the Memorial ; because it was probable the committee 
would understand their business, and perhaps they might 
bring in such a report as would be satisfactory to gentlemen 
on both sides of the House. 

Mr. Baldwin (of Ga.) was sorry the subject had ever 
been brought before Congress, because it was of a delicate 
nature, as it respected some of the States. Gentlemen who 
had been present at the formation of this Constitution could 
not avoid the recollection of the pain and difficulty which the 
subject caused in that body. The members from the Southern 
12 



134 THE CONSTITUTION 

States were so tender upon this point, that they had Well nigh 
broken up without coming to any determination : however, 
from the extreme desire of preserving the Union, and ol> 
taining an efficient government, they were induced mutually 
to concede, and the Constitution jealously guarded what they 
agreed to. If gentlemen look over the footsteps of that body, 
they will find the greatest degree of caution u^ed to imprint 
them, so as not to be easily eradicated ; but the moment we 
go to jostle on that ground, said he, I fear we shall feel it 
tremble under our feet. Congress have no power to interfere 
with the importation of slaves, beyond what is given in the 
9th section of the first article of the Constitution ; every thing 
else is interdicted to them in the strongest terms. If we 
examine the Constitution, we shall find the expressions rela- 
tive to this subject cautiously expressed, and more punctil- 
iously guarded than any other part : — " The migration or 
importation of such persons shall not be prohibited by Con- 
gress." But lest this should not have secured the object 
sufficiently, it is declared in the same section, " That no capi- 
tation or direct tax shall be laid, unless- in proportion to the 
census." This was intended to prevent Congress from laying 
any special tax upon negro slaves, as they might, in this way, 
so burden the possessors of them as to induce a general 
emancipation. If we go on to the 5th article, we shall find 
the 1st and 5th clauses of the 9th section of the 1st article 
restrained from being altered before the year 1808. 

Gentlemen have said that this petition does not pray for 
an abolition of the slave trade. I think, sir, it prays for noth- 
ing else, and therefore we have no more to do with it than 
if it prayed us to establish an order of nobility, or a national 
religion. 

Mr. Sylvester (of N. Y.) said that he had always been 
in the habit of respecting the society called Quakers ; he re- 
spected them for their exertions in the cause of humanity, but 
he thought the present was not a time to enter into a consid- 
eration of the subject, especially as he conceived it to be a 
business in the province of the State legislatures. 



A PRO-SLAVERY COMPACT. 135 

Mr. Lawrence (of N. Y.) observed that the subject would 
undoubtedly come under the consideration of the House ; and 
he thought, that as it was now before them, the present time 
was as proper as any ; he was therefore for committing the 
Memorial ; and when the prayer of it had been properly 
examined, they could see how far Congress may constitution- 
ally interfere. As they knew the limits of their power on this, 
as well as on every other occasion, there was no just appre- 
hension to be entertained that they would go beyond them. 

Mr. Smith (of S. C.) insisted that it was not in the power 
of the House to grant the prayer of the petition, which went 
to the total abolishment of the slave trade, and it was there- 
fore unnecessary to commit it. He observed, that in the 
Southern States, difficulties had arisen on adopting the Con- 
stitution, inasmuch as it was apprehended that Congress might 
take measures under it for abolishing the slave trade. 

Perhaps the petitioners, when they applied to this House, 
did not think their object unconstitutional ; but now they are 
told that it is, they will be satisfied with the answer, and 
press it no further. If their object had been for Congress to 
lay a duty of ten dollars per head on the importation of 
slaves, they would have said so ; but that does not appear to 
have been the case. The commitment of the petition, on that 
ground, cannot be contended. If they will not be content with 
that, shall it be committed to investigate facts ? The petition 
speaks of none : for what purpose then shall it be committed? 
If gentlemen can assign no good reason for the measure, they 
will not support it, when they are told that it will create great 
jealousies and alarm in the Southern States ; for I can assure 
them that there is no point on which they are more jealous 
and suspicious than on a business with which they think the 
government has nothing to (lo. 

When we entered into this confederacy, we did it from 
political, not from moral motives, and I do not think my con- 
stituents want to learn morals from the petitioners. I do not 
believe they want improvement in their moral system ; if they 
do, they can get it at home. 



136 THE CONSTITUTION 

The gentleman from Georgia has justly stated the jealousy 
of the Southern States. On entering into this government, 
they apprehended that the other States, not knowing the ne- 
cessity the citizens of the Southern States were under to hold 
this species of property, would, from motives of humanity and 
benevolence, be led to vote for a general emancipation ; and 
had they not seen that the Constitution provided against the 
effect of such a disposition, I may be bold to say, they never 
would have adopted it. And notwithstanding all the calmness 
with which some gentlemen have viewed the subject, they 
will find that the discussion alone will create great alarm. 
We have been told, that if the discussion will create alarm, 
we ought to have avoided it, by saying nothing ; but it was 
not for that purpose that we were sent here. We look upon 
this measure as an attack upon the palladium of the property 
of our country ; it is, therefore, our duty to oppose it by every 
means in our power. Gentlemen should consider that when 
we entered into a political connection with the other States, 
this property was there ; it was acquired under a former 
government, conformably to the laws and Constitution ; there- 
fore any thing that will tend to deprive them of that property 
must be an ex post facto law, and as such is forbid by our 
political compact. 

I said the States would never have entered into the confed- 
eration, unless their property had been guaranteed to them ; 
for such is the state of agriculture in that country, that with- 
out slaves it must be depopulated. Why will these people, 
then, make use of arguments to induce the slave to turn his 
hand against his master ? We labor under difficulties enough 
from the ravages of the late war. A gentleman can hardly 
come from that country, with a servant or two, either to this 
place or Philadelphia, but what there are persons trying to 
seduce his servants to leave him ; and, when they have done 
this, the poor wretches are obliged to rob their master, in 
order to obtain a subsistence. All those, therefore, who are 
concerned in this seduction, are accessories to the robbery. 



A PRO-SLAVERY COMPACT. . 137 

The reproach which they cast upon the owners of negro 
property is charging them with the want of humanity. I be- 
lieve the proprietors are persons of as much humanity as any 
part of the continent, and are as conspicuous for their good mor- 
als as their neighbors. It was said yesterday, that the Quakers 
were a society known to the laws and the Constitution : but 
they are no more so than other religious societies ; they stand 
exactly in the same situation ; their Memorial, therefore, re- 
lates to a matter in which they are no more interested than 
any other sect, and can only be considered as a piece of ad- 
vice. It is customary to refer a piece of advice to a com- 
mittee; but if it is supposed to pray for what they think 
a moral purpose, is that % sufficient to induce us to commit 
it? What may appear a moral virtue in their eyes, may 
not be so in reality. I have heard of a sect of Shaking Qua- 
kers, who, I presume, suppose their tenets of a moral tenden- 
cy. I am informed one of them forbids to intermarry ; yet in 
consequence of their shakings and concussions, you may see 
them with a numerous offspring about them. Now, if these 
people were to petition Congress to pass a law prohibiting 
matrimony, I ask, would gentlemen agree to refer such a pe- 
tition ? I think, if they would reject one of that nature as 
improper, they ought also to reject this. 

Mr. Page (of Va.) was in favor of the commitment. He 
hoped that the designs of the respectable memorialists would 
not be stopped at the threshold, in Order to preclude a fair 
discussion of the prayer of the memorial. He observed that 
gentlemen had founded their arguments upon a misrepresenta- 
tion ; for the object of the memorial was not declared to be 
the total abolition of the slave trade, but that Congress would 
consider whether it be not in reality within their power to ex- 
ercise justice and mercy, which, if adhered to, they cannot 
doubt, must produce the abolition of the slave trade. If, then, 
the prayer contained nothing unconstitutional, he trusted the 
meritorious effort would not be frustrated. With respect 
to the alarm that was apprehended, he conjectured there was 
12* 



138 THE CONSTITUTION 

none ; but there might be just cause, if the Memorial was not 
taken into consideration. He placed himself in the case of a 
slave, and said, that on hearing that Congress had refused to 
listen to the decent suggestions of a respectable part of the 
community, he should infer that the General Government 
(from which was expected great good would result to every 
class of citizens) had shut their ears against the voice of hu- 
manity, and he should despair of any alleviation of the mis- 
eries he and his posterity had in prospect. If any thing could 
induce him to rebel, it must be a stroke like this, impressing 
on his mind all the horrors of despair. But if he was told 
that application was made in his behalf, and that Congress 
were willing to hear what could be urged in favor of discour- 
aging the practice of importing his fellow-wretches, he would 
trust in their justice and humanity, and wait the decision pa- 
tiently. He presumed that these unfortunate people would 
reason in the same way ; and he therefore conceived the 
most likely way to prevent danger was to commit the petition. 
He lived in a State which had the misfortune of having in 
her bosom a great number of slaves ; he held many of them 
himself, and was as much interested in the business, he be- 
lieved, as any gentleman in South Carolina or Georgia ; yet 
if he was determined to hold them in eternal bondage, he 
should feel no uneasiness or alarm on account of the present 
measure, because he should rely upon the virtue of Congress, 
that they would not exercise any unconstitutional authority. 

Mr. Madison (of Va.) The debate has taken a serious 
turn, and it will be owing to this alone if an alarm is created ; 
for had the Memorial been treated in the usual way, it would 
have been considered as a matter of course, and a report 
might have been made so as to have given general satisfac- 
tion. 

If there was the slightest tendency by the commitment to 
break in upon the Constitution, he would object to it ; but he 
did not see upon what ground such an event was to be appre- 
hended. The petition prayed, in general terms, for the inter- 



A PRO-SLAVERY COMPACT. 139 

ference of Congress, so far as they were constitutionally au- 
thorized ; but even if its prayer was, in some degree, uncon- 
stitutional, it might be committed, as was the case on Mr. 
Churchman's petition, one part of which was supposed to ap- 
ply for an unconstitutional interference by the General Gov- 
ernment. 

He admitted that Congress was restricted by the Constitu- 
tion from taking measures to abolish the slave trade; yet 
there were a variety of ways by which they could countenance 
the abolition, and they might make some regulations respect- 
ing the introduction of them into the new States to be formed 
out of the Western Territory, different from what they could 
in the old settled States. He thought the object well worthy 
of consideration. 

Mr. Gerry (of Mass.) thought the interference of Con- 
gress fully compatible with the Constitution, and could not 
help lamenting the miseries to which the natives of Africa 
were exposed by this inhuman commerce ; and said that he 
never contemplated the subject without reflecting what his 
own feelings would be, in case himself, his children, or friends, 
were placed in the same deplorable circumstances. He then 
adverted to the flagrant acts of cruelty which are committed 
in carrying on that traffic, and asked whether it can be sup- 
posed that Congress has no power to prevent such transac- 
tions. He then referred to the Constitution, and pointed out 
the restrictions laid on the General Government respecting 
the importation of slaves. It was not, he presumed, in the 
contemplation of any gentleman in this House to violate that 
part of the Constitution ; but that we have a right to regulate 
this business is as clear as that we have any rights whatever ; 
nor has the contrary been shown by any person who has 
spoken on the occasion. Congress can, agreeably to the Con- 
stitution, lay a duty of ten dollars on imported slaves ; they 
may do this immediately. He made a calculation of the value 
of the slaves in the Southern States, and supposed they might 
be worth ten millions of dollars. Congress have a right, if 



140 THE CONSTITUTION 

they see proper, to make a proposal to the Southern States to 
purchase the whole of them, and their resources in the West- 
ern Territory may furnish them with means. He did not 
intend to suggest a measure of this kin^; he only instanced 
these particulars, to show that Congress certainly have a right 
to intermeddle in the business. He thought that no objection 
had been offered, of any force, to prevent the commitment of 
the Memorial. 

Mr. Botjdinot (of N.J.) had carefully examined the pe- 
tition, and found nothing like what was complained of by gen- 
tlemen contained in it ; he therefore hoped they would with- 
draw their opposition, and suffer it to be committed. 

Mr. Smith (of S. C.) said, that as the petitioners had par- 
ticularly prayed Congress to take measures for the annihila- 
tion of the slave trade, and that was admitted on all hands to 
be beyond their power, and as the petitioners would not be 
gratified by a tax of ten dollars per head, which was all that 
was within their power, there was, of consequence, no occa- 
sion for committing it. 

Mr. Stone (of Md.) thought this Memorial a thing of 
course ; for there never was a society, of any considerable ex- 
tent, which did not interfere with the concerns of other people ; 
and this kind of interference, whenever it has happened, has 
never failed to deluge the country in blood. On this principle, 
he was opposed to the commitment. 

The question on the commitment being about to be put, the 
yeas and nays were called for, and were* as follows : — 

Yeas — Messrs. Ames, Benson, Boudinot, Brown, Cad- 
-wallader, Clymer, Fitzsimons, Floyd, Foster, Gale, Gerry, 
Gilman, Goodhue, Griffin, Grout, Hartley, Hathorne, ^Heister, 
Huntington, Lawrance, Lee, Leonard, Livermore, Madison, 
Moore, Muhlenberg, Page, Parker, Partridge, Rensselaer, 
Schureman, Scott, Sedgwick, Seney, Sherman, Sinnickson, 
Smith of Maryland, Sturges, Thacher, Trumbull, Wads worth, 
White, and Wynkoop — 43. 

Noes — Messrs. Baldwin, Bland, Bourke, Coles, Huger, 



A PRO-SLAVERY COMPACT. 141 

Jackson, Mathews, Sylvester, Smith of S. C, Stone, and 
Tucker— 11. 

Whereupon it was determined in the affirmative ; and on 
motion, the Petition of the Society of Friends, at New York, 
and the Memorial from the Pennsylvania Society for the abo- 
lition of slavery, were also referred to a committee. 



DEBATE ON COMMITTEE'S REPORT, March, 1790. 
eliot's debates. 

Mr. Tucker moved to modify the first paragraph by strik- 
ing out all the words after the word opinion, and to insert the 
following : That the several memorials proposed to the consid- 
eration of this House a subject on which its interference would 
be unconstitutional, and even its deliberations highly injurious 
to some of the States in the Union. 

• Mr. Jackson rose, and observed that he had been silent on 
the subject of the reports coming before the committee, be- 
cause he wished the principles of the resolutions to be exam- 
ined fairly, and to be decided on their true grounds. He was 
against the propositions generally, and would examine the 
policy, the justice, and the use of them ; and he hoped, if he 
could make them appear in the same light to others as they 
did to him by fair argument, that the gentlemen in opposition 
were not so determined in their opinions as not to give up 
their present sentiments. 

With respect to the policy of the measure, the situation of 
the slaves here, their situation in their native country, and the 
disposal of them in case of emancipation, should be considered. 
That slavery was an evil habit, he did not mean to controvert ; 
but that habit was already established, and there were pecu- 
liar situations in countries which rendered that habit necessa- 
ry. Such situations the States of South Carolina and Geor- 
gia were in : — large tracts of the most fertile lands on the 
continent remained uncultivated for the want of population. 



142 THE CONSTITUTION 

It was frequently advanced on the floor of Congress, how un- 
healthy those climates were, and how impossible it was for 
northern constitutions to exist there. What, he asked, is to 
be done with this uncultivated territory ? Is it to remain a 
waste ? Is the rioe trade to be banished from our coasts ? 
Are Congress willing to deprive themselves of the revenue 
arising from that trade, and which is daily increasing, and to 
throw this great advantage into the hands of other countries ? 

Let us examine the use or the benefit of the resolutions 
contained in the report. I call upon gentlemen to give me 
one single instance in which they can be of service. They 
are of no use to Congress. The powers of that body are al- 
ready defined, and those powers cannot be amended, confirmed, 
or diminished by ten thousand resolutions. Is not the first 
proposition of the report fully contained in the Constitution ? 
Is not that the guide and rule of this legislature ? A multi- 
plicity of laws is reprobated in any society, and tends but to 
confound and perplex. How strange would a law appear 
which was to confirm a law ! and how much more strange 
must it appear for this body to pass resolutions to confirm 
the Constitution under which they sit ! This is the case with 
others of the resolutions. 

A gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Stone) very properly 
observed, that the Union had received the different States 
with all their ill habits about them. This was one of these 
habits established long before the Constitution, and could not 
now be remedied. He begged Congress to reflect on the 
number on the continent who were opposed to this Constitu- 
tion, and on the number which yet remained in the Southern 
States. The violation of this compact they would seize on 
with avidity ; they would make a handle of it to cover their 
designs against the government, and many good federalists, 
who would be injured by the measure, would be induced to 
join them. His heart was truly federal, and it always had 
been so, and he wished those designs frustrated. He begged 
Congress to beware before they went too far : he called on 



A PRO-SLAVERY COMPACT. 143 

them to attend to the interests of two whole States, as well 
as to the Memorials of a society of Quakers, who came for- 
ward to blow the trumpet of sedition, and to destroy that 
Constitution which they had not in the least contributed by 
personal service or supply to establish. • 

He seconded Mr. Tucker's motion. 

Mr. Smith (of S. C.) said, the gentleman from Massachu- 
setts (Mr. Gerry) had declared that it was the opinion of the 
select committee, of which he was a member, that the Memo- 
rial of the Pennsylvania Society required Congress to violate 
the Constitution. It was not less astonishing to see Dr. 
Franklin taking the lead in a business which looks so much 
like a persecution of the Southern inhabitants, when he recol- 
lected the parable he had written some time ago, with a view 
of showing the impropriety of one set of men persecuting 
others for a difference of opinion. The parable was to this 
effect : An old traveller, hungry and weary, applied to the 
patriarch Abraham for a night's lodging. In conversation, 
Abraham discovered that the stranger differed with him on 
religious points, and turned him out of doors. In the night 
God appeared unto Abraham, and said, Where is the stranger ? 
Abraham answered, I found that he did not worship the true 
God, and so I turned him out of doors. The Almighty thus 
rebuked the patriarch : Have I borne with him threescore 
and ten years, and couldst thou not bear with him one night ? 
Has not the Almighty, said Mr. Smith, borne with us for more 
than threescore years and ten ? He has even made our country 
opulent, and shed the blessings of affluence and prosperity on 
our land, notwithstanding all its slaves ; and must we now be 
ruined on account of the tender consciences of a few scrupu- 
lous individuals who differ from us on this point ? 

Mr. BoiTdinot agreed with the general doctrines of Mr. S., 
but could not agree that the clause in the Constitution relating 
to the want of power in Congress to prohibit the importation 
of such persons as any of the States, now existing, shall think 
proper to admit prior to the year 1808, and authorizing a tax 



144 THE CONSTITUTION 

or duty on such importation not exceeding ten dollars for each 
person, did not extend to negro slaves. Candor required that 
he should acknowledge that this was the express design of the 
Constitution, and therefore Congress could not interfere in 
prohibiting the importation or promoting the emancipation of 
them, prior to that period. Mr. Boudinot observed, that he 
was well informed that the tax or duty of ten dollars was pro- 
vided instead of the five per cent, ad valorem, and was so ex- 
pressly understood by all parties in the Convention ; that 
therefore it was the interest and duty of Congress to impose 
this tax, or it would not be doing justice to the States, or 
equalizing the duties throughout the Union. If this was not 
done, merchants might bring their whole capital into this 
branch of trade, and save paying any duties whatever. Mr. 
Boudinot observed, that the gentleman had overlooked the 
prophecy of St. Peter, where he foretells that, among other 
damnable heresies, "through covetousness shall they with 
feigned words make merchandise of you." 

[Note. — This petition, with others of a similar object, was 
committed to a select committee ; that committee made a re- 
port ; the report was referred to a committee of the whole 
House, and discussed on four successive days. It was then re- 
ported to the House with amendments, and by the House 
ordered to be inscribed in its Journals, and then laid on the 
table. 

That report, as amended in committee, is in the > following 
words : — 

The committee, to whom were referred sundry memorials 
from the people called Quakers, and also a memorial from the 
Pennsylvania Society for promoting the abolition of slavery, 
submit the following report, (as amended in committee of the 
whole.) 

" First : That the migration or importation of such persons 
as any of the States now existing shall think proper to admit, 
cannot be prohibited by Congress prior to the year 1808. 



A PRO-SLAVERY COMPACT. 145 

" Secondly : That Congress have no power to interfere in 
the emancipation of slaves, or in the treatment of them, with- 
in any of the States ; it remaining with the several States 
alone to provide any regulations therein which humanity and 
true policy may require. 

" Thirdly : That Congress have authority to restrain the 
citizens of the United States from carrying on the African 
slave trade, for the purpose of supplying foreigners with slaves, 
and of providing by proper regulations for the humane treat- 
ment, during their passage, of slaves imported by the said 
citizens into the States admitting such importations. 

' " Fourthly : That Congress have also authority to prohibit 
foreigners from fitting out vessels in any part of the United 
States for transporting persons from Africa to any foreign 
port."] 



Address of the Executive Committee of the Ameri- 
can Anti-Slavery Society to the Friends of Free- 
dom and Emancipation in the United States. 

At the tenth anniversary of the American Anti-Slavery 
Society, held in the city of New York, MajJTth, 1844, — after 
grave deliberation, and a long and earnest discussion, — it 
was decided, by a vote of nearly three to one of the members 
present, that fidelity to the cause of human freedom, hatred 
of oppression, sympathy for those who are held in chains and 
slavery in this Republic, and allegiance to God, require that 
the existing national compact should be instantly dissolved ; 
that secession from the government is a religious and political 
duty ; that the motto inscribed on the banner of Freedom 
should be, NO UNION WITH SLAVEHOLDERS ; that 
it is impracticable for tyrants and the enemies of tyranny to 
coalesce and legislate together for the preservation of human 
rights, or the promotion of the interests of Liberty ; and that 
revolutionary ground should be occupied by all those who ab- 
13 



146 THE CONSTITUTION 

hor the thought of doing evil that good may come, and who 
do not mean to compromise the principles of Justice and 
Humanity. 

A decision involving such momentous consequences, so well 
calculated to startle the public mind, so hostile to the estab- 
lished order of things, demands of us, as the official representa- 
tives of the American Society, a statement of the reasons 
which led to it. This is due, not only to the Society, but also 
to the country and the world. 

It is declared by the American people to be a self-evident 
truth, " that all men are created equal ; that they are endowed 
BY THEIR CREATOR with certain inalienable rights; 
that among these are life, LIBERTY, and the pursuit of 
happiness." It is further maintained by them, that " all gov- 
ernments derive their just powers from the consent of the 
governed ; " that " whenever any form of government becomes 
destructive of human rights, it is the right of the people to 
alter or to abolish it, and institute a new government, laying 
its foundation on such principles, and organizing its powers in 
such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their 
safety and happiness." These doctrines the patriots of 1776 
sealed with their blood. They would not brook even the 
menace of oppression. They held that there should be no 
delay in resisting, at whatever cost or peril, the first encroach- 
ments of power on their liberties. Appealing to the great 
Ruler of the Universe for the rectitude of their course, they 
pledged to each other " their lives, their fortunes, and their 
sacred honor," to conquer or perish in their struggle to be free. 

For tne example which they set to all people subjected to 
a despotic sway, and the sacrifices which they made, their de- 
scendants cherish their memories with gratitude, reverence 
their virtues, honor their deeds, and glory in their triumphs. 

It is not necessary, therefore, for us to prove that a state of 
slavery is incompatible with the dictates of reason and human- 
ity ; or that it is lawful to throw off a government which is at 
war with the sacred rights of mankind. 






A PRO-SLAVERY COMPACT. 



147 



We regard this as indeed a solemn crisis, which requires of 
every man sobriety of thought, prophetic forecast, independ- 
ent judgment, invincible determination, and a sound heart. 
A revolutionary step is one that should not be taken hastily, 
nor followed under the influence of impulsive imitation. To 
know what spirit they are of — whether they have counted 
the cost of the warfare — what are the principles they advo- 
cate — and how they are to achieve their object, is the first 
duty of revolutionists. 

But, while circumspection and prudence are excellent qual- 
ities in every great emergency, they become the allies of 
tyranny whenever they restrain prompt, bold, and decisive 
action against it. 

We charge upon the present national compact, that it was 
formed at the expense of human liberty, by a profligate sur- 
render of principle, and to this hour is cemented with human 
blood. 

We charge upon the American Constitution, that it contains 
provisions, and enjoins duties, which make it unlawful for 
freemen to take the oath of allegiance to it, because they are 
expressly designed to favor a slaveholding oligarchy, and, con- 
sequently, to make one portion of the people a prey to another. 
We charge upon the existing national government, that it 
is an insupportable despotism, wielded by a power which is 
superior to all legal and constitutional restraints — equally in- 
disposed and unable to protect the lives or liberties of the 
people — the prop and safeguard of 'American slavery. 
These charges we proceed briefly to establish : — 
I. It is admitted by all men of intelligence, — or if it be 
denied in any quarter, the records of our national history set- 
tle the question beyond doubt, — that the American Union 
was effected by a guilty compromise between the free and 
slaveholding States ; in other words, by immolating the colored 
population on the altar of slavery, by depriving the North of 
equal rights and privileges, and by incorporating the slave 
system into the government. In the expressive and pertinent 



148 THE CONSTITUTION 

language of Scripture, it was " a covenant with death, and an 
agreement with hell," — null and void before God from the 
first hour of its inception — the framers of which were recre- 
ant to duty, and the supporters of which are equally guilty. 

It was pleaded at the time of its adoption, — it is pleaded 
now, — that, without such a compromise, there could have 
been no union ; that, without union, the colonies would have 
become an easy prey to the mother country ; and, hence, that 
it was an act of necessity — deplorable indeed when viewed 
alone, but absolutely indispensable to the safety of the re- 
public'. 

To this we reply : The plea is as profligate as the act was 
tyrannical. It is the Jesuitical doctrine, that the end sanctifies 
the means. It is a confession of sin, but the denial of any 
guilt in its perpetration. It is at war with the government 
of God, and subversive of the foundations of morality. It is 
to make lies our refuge, and under falsehood to hide our- 
selves, so that we may escape the overflowing scourge. 
" Therefore, thus saith the Lord God : Judgment will I lay 
to the line, and righteousness to the plummet ; and the hail 
shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall over- 
flow the hiding place." Moreover, " Because ye trust in op- 
pression and perverseness, and stay thereon, therefore this 
iniquity shall be to you as a breach ready to fall, swelling out 
in a high wall, whose breaking cometh suddenly at an instant. 
And he shall break it as the breaking of the potter's vessel 
, that is broken in pieces ; 'he shall not spare." 

This plea is sufficiently broad to cover all the oppression 
and villany that the sun has witnessed in his circuit since 
God said, " Let there be light." It assumes that to be prac- 
ticable which is impossible, namely, that there can be freedom 
with slavery, union with Injustice, and safety with bloodguilt- 
iness. A union of virtue with pollution is the triumph of 
licentiousness. A partnership between right and wrong is 
wholly wrong. A compromise of the principles of justice is 
the deification of crime. 



A PRO-SLAVERY COMPACT. 149 

Better that the American Union had never been formed 
than that it should have been obtained at such a frightful 
cost. If they were guilty who fashioned it, but who could not 
foresee all its frightful consequences, how much more guilty 
are they, who, in full view of all that has resulted from it, 
clamor for its perpetuity ! If it was sinful, at the commence- 
ment, to adppt it on the ground of escaping a greater evil, is 
it not equally sinful to swear to support it, for the same rea- 
son, or until, in process of time, it be purged from its cor- 
ruption ? 

The fact is, the compromise alluded to, instead of effecting 
a union, rendered it impracticable — unless by the term union 
we are to understand the absolute reign of the slaveholding 
power over the whole country, to the prostration of Northern 
rights. In the just use of words, the American Union is, and 
always has been, a sham — an imposture. It is an instrument 
of oppression unsurpassed in the criminal history of the 
world. How, then, can it be innocently sustained ? It is not 
certain, — it is not even probable, — that if it had not been 
adopted, the mother country would have reconquered the col- 
onies. The spirit that would have chosen danger in prefer- 
ence to crime, — to perish with justice rather than live with 
dishonor, — to dare and suffer whatever might betide rather 
than sacrifice the rights of one human being, — could never 
have been subjugated by any mortal power. Surely, it is 
paying a poor tribute to the valor and devotion of our revo- 
lutionary fathers in the cause of liberty, to say that, if they 
had sternly refused to sacrifice their principles, they would 
have fallen an easy prey to the despotic power of England. 

II. The American Constitution is the exponent of the 
national compact. We affirm that it is an instrument which 
no man can innocently bind himself to support, because its 
anti-republican and anti-Christian requirements are explicit 
and peremptory ; at least, so explicit that, in regard to all the 
clauses pertaining to slavery, they have been uniformly un- 
derstood and enforced in the same way by all the courts and 
13* 



150 THE CONSTITUTION 

t>y all the people ; and so peremptory, that no individual in- 
terpretation or authority can set them aside with impunity. 
It is not a ball of clay, to be moulded into any shape that party 
^contrivance or caprice may choose it to assume. It is not a 
form of words, to be interpreted in any manner, or to any 
extent, or for the accomplishment of any purpose, that indi- 
viduals in office under it may determine. It means precisely 
what those who framed and adopted it meant, — nothing 
moue, nothing less, as a matter of bargain and compromise. 
Even if it can be construed to mean something else, without 
violence to its language, such construction is not to be toler- 
ated against the wishes of either party. No just or honest 
use of it can be made, in opposition to the plain intentions of 
its framers, except to declare the contract at an end, and to 
refuse to serve under it. 

To the argument, that the words " slaves " and " slavery " 
are not to be found in the Constitution, and therefore that it 
was never intended to give any protection or countenance to 
the slave system, it is sufficient to reply, that though no such 
words are contained in that instrument, other words were used 
intelligently and specifically, to meet the necessities of 
slavery ; and that these were adopted in good faith, to be 
observed until a constitutional change could be effected. On 
this point, as to the design of certain provisions, no intelligent 
man can honestly entertain a doubt. If it be objected, that 
though these provisions were meant to cover slavery, yet, as 
they can fairly be interpreted to mean something exactly the 
reverse, it is allowable to give to them such an interpretation, 
especially as the cause of freedom will thereby be promoted, we 
reply, that this is to advocate fraud and violence towards one 
of the contracting parties, whose cooperation was secured only 
by an express agreement and understanding between them both, 
in regard to the clauses alluded to ; and that such a construc- 
tion, if enforced by pains and penalties, would unquestionably 
lead to a civil war, in which the aggrieved party would justly 
claim to have been betrayed, and robbed of their constitutional 
rights. 



A PRO-SLAVERY COMPACT. 151 

Again, if it be said, that those clauses, being immoral, are 
null and void, we reply, it is true they are not to be observed ; 
but it is also true that they are portions of an instrument, the 
support of which, as a whole, is required by oath or affir- 
mation ; and, therefore, because they are immoral, and be- 
cause OF THIS OBLIGATION TO ENFORCE IMMORALITY, no 

one can innocently swear to support the Constitution. 

Again, if it be objected, that the Constitution was formed 
by the people of the United States, in order to establish jus- 
tice, to promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings 
of liberty to themselves and their posterity, and therefore it is 
to be so construed as to harmonize with these objects, we re- 
ply, again, that its language is not to be interpreted in a sense 
which neither of the contracting parties understood, and which 
would frustrate every design of their alliance — to wit, union 
at the expense of the colored population of the country. More- 
oveiy nothing is more certain than that the preamble alluded 
to never included, in the minds of those who framed it, those 
who were then pining in bondage — for, in that case, a general 
emancipation of the slaves would have instantly been pro- 
claimed throughout the United States. The words, " secure 
the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity," as- 
suredly meant only the white population. " To promote the 
general welfare," referred to their own welfare exclusively. 
"To establish justice," was understood to be for their sole 
benefit as slaveholders, and the guilty abettors of slavery. 
This is demonstrated by other parts of the same instrument, 
and by their own practice under it. 

We would not detract aught from what is justly their due ; 
but it is as reprehensible to give them credit for what they did 
not ]}ossess, as it is to rob them of what is theirs. It is ab- 
surd, it is false, it is an insult to the common sense of man- 
kind, to pretend that the Constitution was intended to embrace 
the entire population of the country under its sheltering wings; 
or that the parties to it were actuated by a sense of justice 
and the spirit of impartial liberty ; or that it needs no altera- 



152 THE CONSTITUTION 

tion, but only a new interpretation, to make it harmonize with 
the object aimed at by its adoption. As truly might it be 
argued, that because it is asserted in the Declaration of Inde- 
pendence that all men are created equal, and endowed with 
an inalienable right to liberty, therefore none of its signers 
were slaveholders, and since its adoption, slavery has been 
banished from the American soil. The truth is, our fathers 
were intent on securing liberty to themselves, without being 
very scrupulous as to the means they used to accomplish their 
purpose. They were not actuated by the spirit of universal 
philanthropy ; and though in words they recognized occasion- 
ally the brotherhood of the human race, in practice they con- 
tinually denied it. They did not blush to enslave a portion 
of their fellow-men, and to buy and sell them as cattle in the 
market, while they were fighting against the oppression of the 
mother country, and boasting of their regard for the rights of 
man. Why, then, concede to them virtues which thoy did 
not possess ? Why cling to the falsehood that they were no 
respecters of persons in the formation of the government f 

Alas ! that they had no more fear of God, no more regard 
for man, in their hearts ! " The iniquity of the house of Is- 
rael and Judah [the North and South] is exceeding great, 
and the land is full of blood, and the city full of perverse- 
ness ; for they say, the Lord hath forsaken the earth, and 
the Lord seeth not." 

We proceed to a critical examination of the American 
Constitution, in its relations to slavery. 

In Article 1, Section 9, it is declared, " The migration or 
importation of such persons as any of the States now existing 
shall think proper to admit, shall not be prohibited by the 
Congress, prior to the year one thousand eight hundred and 
eight ; but a tax or duty may be imposed on such importation, 
not exceeding ten dollars for each person." 

In this Section, it will be perceived, the phraseology is so 
guarded as not to imply, ex necessitate, any criminal intent or 
inhuman arrangement ; and yet no one has ever had the 



A PRO-SLAVERY COMPACT. 153 

hardihood or folly to deny, that it wa9 clearly understood by 
the contracting parties to mean that there should be no inter- 
ference with the African slave trade, on the part of the Gen- 
eral Government, until the year 1808. For twenty years 
after the adoption of the Constitution, the citizens of the 
United States were to be encouraged and protected in the 
prosecution of that infernal traffic, in sacking and burning the 
hamlets of Africa, in slaughtering multitudes of the inoffensive 
natives on the soil, kidnapping and enslaving a still greater 
proportion, crowding them to suffocation in the holds of the 
slave ships, populating the Atlantic with their dead bodies, 
and subjecting the wretched survivors to all the horrors of 
unmitigated bondage ! This awful covenant was strictly ful- 
filled ; and though, since its termination, Congress has de- 
clared the foreign slave traffic to be piracy, yet all Christen- 
dom knows that the American flag, instead of being the ter- 
ror of the African slavers, has given them the most ample 
protection. 

The manner in whieh the 9th Section was agreed to, by 
the National Convention that formed the Constitution, is thus 
frankly avowed by the Hon. Luther Martin,* who was a 
prominent member of that body : — 

" The Eastern States, notwithstanding their aversion to slavery (!) were very willing 
to indulge the Southern States at least with a temporary liberty to prosecute the slave 
trade, provided the Southern States would, in their turn, gratify them by laying no 
restriction on navigation acts; and after a very little time, the committee, by a great 
majority, agreed on a report by which the General Government iuus to be prohibited from 
preventing the importation of slaves for a limited time ; and the restrictive clause rela- 
tive to navigation acts was to be omitted." 

Behold the iniquity of this agreement ! how sordid were the 
motives which led to it ! what a profligate disregard of justice 
and humanity on the part of those who had solemnly declared 
the inalienable right of all men to freedom and equality to 
be a self-evident truth ! 

It is due to the National Convention to say, that this Sec- 
tion was not adopted " without considerable opposition." Al- 
luding to it, Mr. Martin observes, — 

* Speech before the legislature of Maryland, in 1787. 



154 THE CONSTITUTION 

"It was said that we had just assumed a place' among independent nations, in 
consequence of our opposition to the attempts of Great Britain to enslave us ; that this 
opposition was grounded upon the preservation of those rights to which God and 
nature had entitled us, not in particular, but in common with all the rest of mankind; 
that we had appealed to the Supreme Being for his assistance, as the God of freedom, 
who could not but approve our efforts to preserve the rights which he had thus im- 
parted to his creatures ; that now, when we scarcely had risen from our knees, from 
supplicating his aid and protection in forming our government over a free people, a 
government formed pretendedly on the principles of liberty, and for its preservation, — 
in that government to have a provision, not only putting it out of its power to restrain 
and prevent the slave trade, but even encouraging that most infamous traffic, by giving 
the States power and influence in the Union in proportion as they cruelly and wan- 
tonly sport with the rights of their fellow-creatures, ought to be considered as a sol- 
emn mockery of, and insult to, that God whose protection we had then implored, and 
could not fail to hold us up in detestation, and render us contemptible to every true 
friend of liberty in the world. It was said it ought to be considered that national 
crimes can only be, and frequently are, punished in this world by national punishments, 
and that the continuance of the slave trade, and thus giving it a national sanction and 
encouragement, ought to be considered as justly exposing us to the displeasure and 
vengeance of Him who is equally Lord of all, and who views with equal eye the poor 
African slave and his American master ! (1) 

" It was urged that, by this system, we were giving the General Government full 
and absolute power to regulate commerce, under which general power it would have 
a right to restrain, or totally prohibit, the slave trade : it must, therefore, appear 
to the world absurd and disgraceful to the last degree, that we should except from 
the exercise of that power the only branch of commerce which is unjustifiable 
in its nature, and contrary to the rights of mankind. That, on the contrary, we 
ought rather to prohibit expressly, in our Constitution, the further importation of 
slaves, and to authorize the General Government, from time to time, to make such 
regulations as should be thought most advantageous for the gradual abolition of 
slavery, and the emancipation of the slaves which are already in the States. IJhat 
slavery is inconsistent with the genius of republicanism, and has a tendency to de- 
stroy those principles on which it is supported, as it lessens the sense of the equal 
rights of mankind, and habituates us to tyranny and oppression. It was further 
urged that, by this system of government, every State is to be protected, both from 
foreign invasion and from domestic insurrections ; that, from this consideration, it 
was of the utmost importance it should have a power to restrain the importation of 
slaves, since in proportion as the number of slaves were increased in any State, in 
the same proportion the State is weakened and exposed to foreign invasion or domes- 
tic insurrection ; and by so much less will it be able to protect itself against either, 
and therefore will, by so much the more, want aid from, and be a burden to, the 
Union. 

" It was further said that, as in this system we were giving the General Govern- 
ment a power, under the idea of national character, or national interest, to regulate 
even our weights and measures, and had prohibited all possibility of emitting paper 
muney, and passing insolvent laws, &c, it must appear still more extraordinary that 
we should prohibit the government from interfering with the slave trade, than which 
nothing could so materially affect both our national honor and interest. 

" These reasons influenced me, both on the committee and in convention, most 
decidedly to oppose and vote against the clause, as it now makes a part of the 
system." * 

Happy had it been for this nation, had these solemn con- 
siderations been heeded by the framers of the Constitution ! 
But for the sake of securing some local advantages, they 
chose to do evil that good might come, and to make the end 
sanctify the means. They were willing to enslave others, 
that they might secure their own freedom. They did this 

- (1) How terribly and justly has this guilty nation been scourged, since these words 
were spoken, on account of slavery and the slave trade ! 
* Secret Proceedings, p. 64. 



A PRO-SLAVERY COMPACT. 155 

deed deliberately, with their* eyes open, with all the facts 
and consequences arising therefrom before them, in violation 
of all their heaven-attested declarations, and in atheistical 
distrust of the overruling power of God. " The Eastern 
States were very willing to indulge the Southern States " 
in the unrestricted prosecution of their piratical traffic, pro- 
vided in return they could be gratified by no restriction being 
laid on navigation acts ! ! Had there been no other provision 
of the Constitution justly liable to objection, this one alone 
rendered the support of that instrument incompatible with the 
duties which men owe to their Creator, and to each other. It 
was the poisonous infusion in the cup, which, though consti- 
tuting but a very slight portion of its contents, perilled the 
life of every one who partook of it. 

If it be asked, to what purpose are these animadversions, 
since the clause alluded to has long since expired by its own 
limitation — we answer, that if at any time the foreign slave 
trade could be constitutionally prosecuted, it may yet be re- 
newed, under the Constitution, at the pleasure of Congress, 
whose prohibitory statute is liable to be reversed at any mo- 
ment, in the frenzy of Southern opposition to emancipation. 
It is ignorantly supposed that the bargain was, that the traffic 
should cease in 1808 ; but the only thing secured by it was, 
the right of Congress (not any obligation) to prohibit it at 
that period. If, therefore, Congress had not chosen to exer- 
cise that right, the traffic might have been prolonged indefi- 
nitely under the Constitution. The right to destroy any par- 
ticular branch of commerce, implies the right to reestablish it. 
True, there is no probability that the African slave trade will 
ever again be legalized by the national government ; but no 
credit is due the framers of the Constitution on this ground ; 
for, while they threw around it all the sanction and protection 
of the national character and power for twenty years, they set 
no bounds to its continuance by any positive constitutional pro- 
hibition. 

Again, the adoption of such a clause, and the faithful exe- 



156 - THE CONSTITUTION 

cution of it, prove what was meant by the words of the pre- 
amble — " to form a more perfect union, establish justice, 
insure domestic tranquillity, provide for the common defence, 
promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of lib- 
erty to ourselves and our posterity " — namely, that the par- 
ties to the Constitution regarded only their own rights and 
interests, and never intended that its language should be so 
interpreted as to interfere with slavery, or to make it unlaw- 
ful for one portion of the people to enslave another, without 
an express alteration in that instrument, in the manner therein 
set forth. While, therefore, the Constitution remains as it 
was originally adopted, they who swear to support it are 
bound to comply with all its provisions, as a matter of alle- 
giance. For it avails nothing to say, that some of those pro- 
visions are at war with the law of God and the rights of 
man, and therefore are not obligatory. Whatever may be 
their character, they are constitutionally obligatory ; and who- 
ever feels that he cannot execute them, or swear to execute 
them, without committing sin, has no other choice left than to 
withdraw from the government, or to violate his conscience by 
taking on his lips an impious promise. The object of the 
Constitution is not to define what is the law of God, but 
WHAT IS THE WILL OF THE PEOPLE — which 
will is not to be frustrated by an ingenious moral interpreta- 
tion, by those whom they have elected to serve them. 

Article 1, Sect. 2, provides — "Representatives and direct 
taxes shall be apportioned among the several States which 
may be included within this Union, according to their respec- 
tive numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the 
whole number of free persons, including those bound to ser- 
vice for a term of years, and excluding Indians not taxed, 
three fifths of all other persons." 

Here, as in the clause we have already examined, veiled 
beneath a form of words as deceitful as it is unmeaning in a 
truly democratic government, is a provision for the safety, 
perpetuity, and augmentation of the slaveholding power — a 



A PRO-SLAVERY COMPACT. 157 

provision scarcely less atrocious than that which related to 
the African slave trade, and almost as afflictive in its opera- 
tion — a provision still in force, with no possibility of its 
alteration, so long as a majority of the slave States choose to 
maintain their slave system — a provision which, at the pres- 
ent time, enables the South to have twenty-five additional 
representatives in Congress on the score of property, while 
the North is not allowed to have one — a provision which 
concedes to the oppressed three fifths of the political power 
which is granted to all others, and then puts this power into 
the hands of their oppressors, to be wielded by them for the 
more perfect security of their tyrannous authority, and the 
complete subjugation of the non-slaveholding States. 

Referring to this atrocious bargain, Alexander Hamil- 
ton remarked in the New York Convention — 

" The first tiling objected to, is that clause which allows a representation for three 
fifths of the negroes. Much has been said of the impropriety of representing men 
who have no will of their own. Whether this be reasoning or declamation, (!) I will 
not presume to say. It is the unfortunate situation of the Southern States to have a 
great part of their population, as well as property, in blacks. The regulation com- 
plained of was one result of the spirit of accommodation which governed the Conven- 
tion ; and without this indulgence, NO UNION COULD POSSIBLY HAVE BEEN 
FORMED. But, sir, considering some peculiar advantages which we derive from 
them, it is entirely JUST that they should be gratified. The Southern States possess 
certain staples — tobacco, rice, indigo, &c, — which must be capital objects in treaties 
of commerce with foreign nations ; and the advantage which they necessarily pro- 
cure in these treaties will be felt throughout all the States." 

If such was the patriotism, such the love of liberty, such 
the morality of Alexander Hamilton, what can be said of 
the character of those who were far less conspicuous than 
himself in securing American independence, and in framing 
the American Constitution ? 

Listen, now, to the opinions of John Quincy Adams, 
respecting the constitutional clause now under considera- 
tion : — 

" ' In outward show, it is a representation of persons in bondage j in fact, it is a 
representation of their masters, — the oppressor representing the oppressed.' — ' Is it 
in the compass of human imagination to devise a more perfect exemplification of the 
art of committing the lamb to the tender custody of the wolf ?' — ' The representa- 
tive is thus constituted, not the friend, agent and trustee of the person whom he 
represents, but the most inveterate of his foes.' — ' It was one of the curses from that 
Pandora's box, adjusted at the time, as usual, by a compromise, the whole advantage 
of which enured to the benefit of the South, and to aggravate the burdens of the 
North.' — 'If there be a parallel to it in human history, it can only be that of the 
Roman Emperors, who, from the days when Julius Ca?sar substituted a military des- 
potism in the place of a republic, among the offices which they always concentrated 

14 



158 THE CONSTITUTION 

upon themselves, was that of tribune of the people. A Roman Emperor tribune of 
the people, is an exact parallel to that feature in the Constitution of the United States 
which makes the master the representative of his slave.' — 'The Constitution of 
the United States expressly prescribes that no title of nobility shall be granted by the 
United States. The spirit of this interdict is not a rooted antipathy to the grant of 
mere powerless empty titles, but to titles of nobility ; to the institution of privileged 
orders of men. But what order of men under the most absolute of monarchies, or 
the most aristocratic of republics, was ever invested with such an odious and unjust 
privilege as that of the separate and exclusive representation of less than half a mil- 
lion owners of slaves, in the Hall of this House, in the chair of the Senate, and in 
the Presidential mansion ?' — ' This investment of power in the owners of one species- 
of property concentrated in the highest authorities of the nation, and disseminated 
through thirteen of the twenty-six States of the Union, constitutes a privileged order 
of men in the community, more adverse to the rights of all, and more pernicious to 
the interests of the whole, than any order of nobility ever known. To call govern- 
ment thus constituted a Democracy, is to insult the understanding of mankind. To 
call it an Aristocracy, is to do injustice to that form of government. Aristocracy is 
the government of the best. Its standard qualification for accession to power is merit, 
ascertained by popular election, recurring at short intervals of time. If even that 
government is prone to degenerate into tyranny, what must be the character of that 
form of polity in which the standard qualification for access to power is wealth in the 
possession of slaves ? It is doubly tainted with the infection of riches and of slavery. 
There is no name in the language of national jurisprudence that can define it — no model 
in the records of ancient history, or in the political theories of Aristotle, with which 
it can be likened. It was introduced into the Constitution of the United States by 
an equivocation — a representation of property under the name of persons. Little did 
the members of the Convention from the free States imagine or foresee what a sacrifice 
to Moloch was hidden under the mask of this concession.' — ' The House of Repre- 
sentatives of the United States consists of 223 members — all, by the letter of the 
Constitution, representatives only of persons, as 135 of them really are ; but the other 
88, equally representing the persons of their constituents, by whom they are elected, 
also represent, under the name of other persons, upwards of two and a half millions 
of slaves, held as the property of less than half a million of the white constituents, 
and valued at twelve hundred millions of dollars. Each of these 88 members repre- 
sents in fact the whole of that mass of associated wealth, and the persons and exclu- 
sive interests of its owners ; all thus knit together, like the members of a moneyed 
corporation, with a capital not of thirty-five or forty or fifty, but of twelve hundred 
millions of dollars, exhibiting the most extraordinary exemplification of the anti- 
republican tendencies of associated wealth that the world ever saw.' — ' Here is one 
class of men, consisting of not more than one fortieth part of the whole people, not 
more than one thirtieth part of the free population, exclusively devoted to their per- 
sonal interests, identified with their own as slaveholders of the same associated 
Wealth, and wielding by their votes, upon every question of government or of public 
policy, two fifths of the'whole power of the House. In the Senate of the Union, the 
proportion of the slaveholding power is yet greater. By the influence of slavery, in 
the States where the institution is tolerated, over their elections, no other than a 
slaveholder can rise to the distinction of obtaining a seat in the Senate ; and thus, of 
the 52 members of the Federal Senate, 26 are owners of slaves, and as effectively 
representatives of that interest as the 88 members elected by them to the House.' — 
' By this process it is that all political power in the States is absorbed and engrossed 
by the owners of slaves, and the overruling policy of the States is shaped to strengthen 
and consolidate their domination. The legislative, executive, and judicial authorities 
are all in their hands — the preservation, propagation, and perpetuation of the black 
code of slavery — every law of the legislature becomes a link in the chain of the 
slave ; every executive act a rivet to his hapless fate ; every judicial decision a per- 
version of the human intellect to the justification of wrong.' — ' Its reciprocal opera- 
tion upon the government of the nation is, to establish an artificial majority in the 
slave representation over that of the free people, in the American Congress, and 
thereby to make the PRESERVATION, PROPAGATION, AND PERPETUATION 
OF SLAVERY THE VITAL AND ANIMATING SPIRIT OF THE NATIONAL 
GOVERNMENT.' — ' The result is seen in the fact that, at this day, the President of 
the United States, the President of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of Repre- 
sentatives, and five out of nine of the Judges of the Supreme Judicial Court of the 
United States, are not only citizens of slaveholding States, but individual slave- 
holders themselves. So are, and constantly have been, with scarcely an exception, 
all the members of both Houses of Congress from the slaveholding States ; and so are, 
in immensely disproportionate numbers, the commanding officers of the army and 
navy ; the officers of the customs ; the registers and receivers of the land offices ; and 






A PRO-SLAVERY COMPACT. 159 

the postmasters throughout the slaveholding States. — The Biennial Register indicates 
the birthplace of all the officers employed in the government of the Union. If it were 
required to designate the owners of this species of property among them, it would be 
little more than a catalogue of slaveholders.' " 

It is confessed by Mr. Adams, alluding to the National 
Convention that framed the Constitution, that " the delegation 
from the free States, in their extreme anxiety to conciliate the 
ascendency of the Southern slaveholder, did listen to a com- 
promise between right and wrong — between freedom and sla- 
very ; of the ultimate fruits of which they had no conception, 
but which already even now is urging the Union to its inev- 
itable ruin and dissolution, by a civil, servile, foreign and In- 
dian war, all combined in one ; a war, the essential issue of 
which will be between freedom and slavery, and in which the 
unhallowed standard of slavery will be the desecrated banner 
of the North American Union — that banner, first unfurled to 
the breeze, inscribed with the self-evident truths of the Dec- 
laration of Independence." 

Hence, to swear to support the Constitution of the United 
States, as it is, is to make " a compromise between right and 
wrong," and to wage war against human liberty. It is to 
recognize and honor as republican legislators incorrigible men- 
stealers, merciless tyrants, BLOODTHIRSTY ASSAS- 
SINS, who legislate with deadly weapons about their persons, 
such as pistols, daggers, and bowie-knives, with which they 
threaten to murder any Northern senator or representative 
who shall dare to stain their honor, or interfere with their 
rights ! They constitute a banditti more fierce and cruel than 
any whose atrocities are recorded on the pages of history or 
romance. To mix with them on terms of social or religious 
fellowship, is to indicate a low state of virtue ; but to think 
of administering a free government by their cooperation is 
nothing short of insanity. 

Article 4, Section 2, declares, " No person held to service 
or labor in one State, under the laws thereof, escaping into 
another, shall, in consequence of any law or regulation there- 
in, be discharged from such service or labor ; but shall be de- 



160 THE CONSTITUTION 

livered up on claim of the party to whom such service or labor 
may be due." 

Here is a thit-d clause, which, like the other two, makes no 
mention of slavery or slaves in express terms ; and yet, like 
them, was intelligently framed and mutually understood by 
the parties to the ratification, and intended both to protect the 
slave system and to restore runaway slaves. It alone makes 
slavery a national institution, a national crime, and all the. 
people who are not enslaved the body-guard over those whose 
liberties have been cloven down. This agreement, too, has 
been fulfilled to the letter by the North. 

Under the Mosaic dispensation it was imperatively com- 
manded, " Thou shalt not deliver unto his master the servant 
which is escaped from his master unto thee : he shall dwell 
with thee, even among you, in that place which he shall choose 
in one of thy gates, where it liketh him best : thou shalt not 
oppress him." The warning which the prophet Isaiah gave 
to oppressing Moab was of a similar kind : " Take counsel, 
execute judgment ; make thy shadow as the night in the midst 
of the noonday ; hide the outcasts ; bewray not him that wan- 
dereth. Let mine outcasts dwell with thee, Moab ; be thou a 
covert to them from the face of the spoiler." The prophet 
Obadiah brings the following charge against treacherous 
Edom, which is precisely applicable to this guilty nation : — 
" For thy violence against thy brother Jacob, shame shall 
come over thee, and thou shalt be cut off forever. In the day 
that thou stoodest on the other side, in the day that the stran- 
gers carried away captive his forces, and foreigners entered into 
his gates, and cast lots upon Jerusalem, even thou wast as one 
of them. But thou shouldst not have looked on the day of 
thy brother in the day that he became a stranger ; neither 
shouldst thou have rejoiced over the children of Judah in the 
day of their destruction ; neither shouldst thou have spoken 
proudly in the day of distress ; neither shouldst thou have 
stood in the cross-way, to cut off those of his that did escape ; 
neither shouldst thou have delivered up those of his that did 
remain in the day of distress." 



A PRO-SLAVERY COMPACT. 161 

How exactly descriptive of this boasted republic is the im- 
peachment of Edom by the same prophet ! " The pride of 
thine heart hath deceived thee, thou whose habitation is high ; 
that saith in thy heart, Who shall bring me down to the ground ? 
Though thou exalt thyself as the eagle, and though thou set 
thy nest among the stars, thence will I bring thee down, saith 
the Lord." The emblem of American pride and power is 
the eagle, and on her banner she has mingled stars with its 
stripes. Her vanity, her treachery, her oppression, her self- 
exaltation, and her defiance of the Almighty, far surpass the 
madness and wickedness of Edom. What shall be her pun- 
ishment ? Truly, it may be affirmed of the American people, 
(who live not under the Levitical but Christian code, and 
whose guilt, therefore, is the more awful, and their condemna- 
tion the greater,) in the language of another prophet, " They 
all lie in wait for blood ; they hunt every man his brother 
with a net. That they may do evil with both hands earnestly, 
the prince asketh, and the judge asketh for a reward ; and the 
great man, he uttereth his mischievous desire : so they wrap it 
up." Likewise of the colored inhabitants of this land it may 
be said, " This is a people robbed and spoiled ; they are all of 
them snared in holes, and they are hid in prison-houses ; they 
are for a prey, and none delivereth; for a spoil, and none 
saith, Restore." 

By this stipulation, the Northern States are made the hunt- 
ing ground of slave-catchers, who may pursue their victims 
with bloodhounds, and capture them with impunity wherever 
they can lay their robber hands upon them. At least twen- 
ty-five thousand runaway slaves are now in Canada, exiled 
from their native land, because they could not find throughout 
its vast extent a single rood on which they could dwell in 
safety, in consequence of this provision of the Constitution J 
How is it possible, then, for the advocates of liberty to support 
a government which gives over to destruction one sixth part 
of the whole population ? 

It is denied by some at the present day, that the clause 
14* 



162 THE CONSTITUTION 

which has been cited was intended to apply to runaway slaves. 
This indicates either ignorance, or folly, or something worse. 
James Madison, as one of the framers of the Constitution, 
is of some authority on this point. Alluding to that instru- 
ment, in the Virginia convention, he said, — 

" Another clause secures us that property which we now possess. At present, if any 
slave elopes to any of those States where slaves are free, he becomes emancipated by 
their laws ; for the laws of the States are uncharitable (!) to one another in this respect ; 
but in this Constitution, ' No person held to service or labor in one State, under the 
laws thereof, escaping into another, shall, in consequence of any law or regulation 
therein, be discharged from such service or labor, but shall be delivered up on claim 
of the party to whom such service or labor may be due.' THIS CLAUSE WAS EX- 
PRESSLY INSERTED TO ENABLE OWNERS OF SLAVES TO RECLAIM 
THEM. This is a better security than any that now exists. No power is given to the 
General Government to interpose with respect to the property in slaves now held by 
the States." 

In the same convention, alluding to the same clause, Gov. 
Randolph said, — 

" Every one knows that slaves are held to service or labor. And, when authority 
is given to owners of slaves to vindicate their property, can it be supposed they can be 
deprived of it ? If a citizen of this State, in consequence of this clause, can take his 
runaway slave in Maryland, can it be seriously thought that, after taking him and 
bringing him home, he could be made free? " 

It is objected that slaves are held as property, and there- 
fore, as the clause refers to persons, it cannot mean slaves. 
But this is criticism against fact. Slaves are recognized not 
merely as property, but also as persons — as having a mixed 
character — as combining the human with the brutal. This 
is paradoxical, we admit ; but slavery is a paradox — the 
American Constitution is a paradox — the American Union 
is a paradox — the American government is a paradox ; and 
if any one of these is to be repudiated on that ground, they all 
are. That it is the duty of the friends of freedom to deny 
the binding authority of them all, and to secede from them 
all, we distinctly affirm. After the independence of this coun- 
try had been achieved, the voice of God exhorted the people, 
saying, " Execute true judgment, and show mercy and com- 
passion, every man to his brother : and oppress not the widow, 
nor the fatherless, the stranger, nor the poor ; and let none of 
you imagine evil against his brother in your heart. But they 
refused to hearken, and pulled away the shoulder, and stopped 
their ears that they should not hear ; yea, they made their 



A PRO-SLAVERY COMPACT. 163 

hearts as an adamant stone." " Shall I not visit for these 
things ? saith the Lord. Shall not my soul be avenged on 
such a nation as this ? " 

"Whatever doubt may have rested on any honest mind, re- 
specting the meaning of the clause in relation to persons held 
to service or labor, must have been removed by the unanimous 
decision of the Supreme Court of the United States, in the 
case of Prigg vs. The State of Pennsylvania. By that de- 
cision, any Southern slave-catcher is empowered to seize and 
convey to the South, without hinderance or molestation on the 
part of the State, and without any legal process duly obtained 
and served, any person or persons, irrespective of caste or 
complexion, whom he may choose to claim as runaway slaves ; 
and if, when thus surprised and attached, or on their arrival 
South, they cannot prove by legal witnesses that they are 
freemen, their doom is sealed ! Hence the free colored popu- 
lation of the North are specially liable to become the victims 
of this terrible power, and all the other inhabitants are at the 
mercy of prowling kidnappers, because there are multitudes 
of white as well as black slaves on Southern plantations, and 
slavery is no longer fastidious with regard to the color of its 
prey. 

As soon as that appalling decision of the Supreme Court 
was enunciated, in the name of the Constitution, the people of 
the North should have risen en masse, if for no other cause, 
and declared the Union at an end ; and they would have done 
so if they had not lost their manhood, and their reverence for 
justice and liberty. 

In the fourth section of Article IV., the United States guar- 
antee to protect every State in the Union " against domestic 
violence" By the eighth section of Article I., Congress is 
empowered " to provide for calling forth the militia to execute 
the laws of the Union, suppi-ess insurrections, and repel inva- 
sions." These provisions, however strictly they may apply to 
cases of disturbance among the white population, were adopt- 
ed with special reference to the slave population, for the pur- 



164 THE CONSTITUTION 

pose of keeping them in their chains by the combined military 
force of the country ; and were these repealed, and the South 
left to manage her slaves as best she could, a servile insurrec- 
tion would ere long be the consequence, as general as it would 
unquestionably be successful. Says Mr. Madison, respecting 
these clauses, — 

" On application of the legislature or executive, as the case may be, the militia of 
the other States are to be called to suppress domestic insurrections. Does this bar the 
States from calling forth their own militia? No; but it gives them a supplementary 
security to suppress insurrections and domestic violence." 

In answer to Patrick Henry's objection, as urged 
against the Constitution in the Virginia Convention, that there 
Was no power left to the States to quell an insurrection of 
slaves, as it was wholly vested in Congress, George Nicho- 
las asked, — 

" Have they it now ? If they have, does the Constitution take it away ? If it does, 
it must be in one of the three clauses which have been mentioned by the worthy mem- 
ber. The first clause gives the General Government power to call them out when 
necessary. Does this take it away from the States ? No ; but it gives an additional 
security ; for, besides the power in the State Governments to use their own militia, it 
will be me duty of the General Government to aid them WITH THE STRENGTH OF 
THE UNION, when called for." 

This solemn guarantee of security to the slave system caps 
the climax of national barbarity, and stains with human blood 
the garments of all the people. In consequence of it, that 
system has multiplied its victims from seven hundred thou- 
sand to nearly three millions ; a vast amount of territory has 
been purchased, in order to give it extension and perpetuity ; 
several new slave States have been admitted into the Union ; 
the slave trade has been made one of the great branches 
of American commerce ; the slave population, though over- 
worked, starved, lacerated, branded, maimed, and subjected 
to every form of deprivation and every species of torture, 
have been overawed and crushed, or, whenever they have 
attempted to gain their liberty by revolt, they have been shot 
down and quelled by the strong arm of the National Gov- 
ernment — as, for example, in the case of Nat Turner's 
insurrection in Virginia, when the naval and military forces 
of the government were called into active service. Cuban 



A PRO-SLAVERY COMPACT. 165 

bloodhounds have been purchased with the money of the 
people, and imported and used to hunt slave fugitives among 
the everglades of Florida. A merciless warfare has been 
waged for the extermination or expulsion of the Florida In- 
dians, because they gave succor to these poor hunted fugitives 
— a warfare which has cost the nation several thousand lives 
and forty millions of dollars. But the catalogue of enormities 
is too long to be recapitulated in the present address. 

We have thus demonstrated that the compact between the 
North and the South embraces every variety of wrong and | 
outrage, is at war with God and man, cannot be innocently 
supported, and deserves to be immediately annulled. In be- 
half of the society which we represent, we call upon all our 
fellow-citizens, who believe it is right to obey God rather than 
man, to declare themselves peaceful revolutionists, and to 
unite with us under the stainless banner of Liberty, having 
for its motto, " Equal rights for all — NO UNION 
WITH SLAVEHOLDERS!" 

It is pleaded that the Constitution provides for its own 
amendment, and we ought to use the elective franchise to 
effect this object. True, there is such a proviso ; but, until 
the amendment be made, that instrument is binding as it 
stands. Is it not to violate every moral instinct, and to sac- 
rifice principle to expediency, to argue that we may swear to 
steal, oppress, and murder by wholesale, because it may be 
necessary to do so only for the time being, and because there 
is some remote probability that the instrument which requires 
that we should be robbers, oppressors, and murderers, may at 
some future day be amended in these particulars ? Let us 
not palter with our consciences in this manner; let us not 
deny that the compact was conceived in sin, and brought forth 
in iniquity ; let us not be so dishonest, even to- promote a 
good object, as to interpret the Constitution in a manner ut- 
terly at variance with the intentions and arrangements of the 
contracting parties ; but, confessing the guilt of the nation, 
acknowledging the dreadful specifications in the bond, wash- 
ing our hands in the waters of repentance from all further 



166 THE CONSTITUTION 

participation in this criminal alliance, and resolving that we 
will sustain none other than a free and righteous government, 
let us glory in the name of revolutionists, unfurl the banner 
of disunion, and consecrate our talents and means to the over- 
throw of all that is tyrannical in the land, — to the establish- 
ment of all that is free, just, true, and holy, — to the triumph 
of universal love and peace. 

If, in utter disregard of the historical facts which have been 
cited, it is still asserted that the Constitution needs no amend- 
ment to make it a free instrument, adapted to all the exigen- 
cies of a free people, and was never intended to give any 
strength or countenance to the slave system, the indignant 
spirit of insulted Liberty replies, " What though the assertion 
be true ? Of what avail is a mere piece of parchment ? In 
itself, though it be written all over with words of truth and 
freedom, — though its provisions be as impartial and just as 
words can express or the imagination paint, — though it be 
as pure as the gospel, and breathe only the spirit of heaven, — 
it is powerless ; it has no executive vitality ; it is a lifeless 
corpse, even though beautiful in death. I am famishing for 
lack of bread — how is my appetite relieved by holding up to 
my gaze a painted loaf? I am manacled, wounded, bleeding, 
dying — what consolation is it to know, that they who are 
seeking to destroy my life profess in words to be my friends ? " 
If the liberties of the people have been betrayed, — if judg- 
ment is turned away backward, and justice standeth afar off, 
and truth has fallen in the streets, and equity cannot enter, — 
if the princes of the land are roaring lions, the judges even- 
ing wolves, the people light and treacherous persons, the 
priests covered with pollution, — if we are living under a 
frightful despotism, which scoffs at all constitutional restraints, 
and wields the resources of the nation to promote its own 
bloody purposes, — tell us not that the forms of freedom are 
still left to us ! " Would such tameness and submission have 
freighted the Mayflower for Plymouth Rock ? Would it 
have resisted the Stamp Act, the Tea Tax, or any of those 
entering wedges of tyranny with which the British govern- 



A PRO-SLAVERY COMPACT. 167 

ment sought to rive the liberties of America ? The wheel of 
the Revolution would have rusted on its axle, if a spirit so 
weak had been the only power to give it motion." Did our 
fathers say, when their rights and liberties were infringed, 
" Why, what is done cannot be undone. That is the first 
thought"? No, it was the last thing they thought of; or, 
rather, it never entered their minds at all. They sprang to 
the conclusion at once, "What is done shall be undone. That 
is our first and only thought." 

" Is water running in our veins ? Do we remember still 
Old Plymouth Rock, and Lexington, and famous Bunker Ilill ? 
The debt we owe our fathers' graves? and to the yet unborn, 
Whose heritage ourselves must make a thing of pride or scorn? 

Gray Plymouth Rock hath yet a tongue, and Concord is not dumb ; 
And voices from our fathers' graves and from the future come : 
They call on us to stand our ground — they charge us still to be 
Not only free from chains ourselves, but foremost to make free ! " 

It is of little consequence who is on the throne, if there be 
behind it a power mightier than the throne. It matters not 
what is the theory of the government, if the practice of the 
government be unjust and tyrannical. We rise in rebellion 
against a despotism incomparably more dreadful than that 
which induced the colonists to take up arms against the moth- 
er country ; not on account of a threepenny tax on tea, but 
because fetters of living iron are fastened on the limbs of mil- 
lions of our countrymen, and our most sacred rights are tram- 
pled in the dust. As citizens of the State, we appeal to the 
State in vain for protection and redress. As citizens of the 
United States, we are treated as outlaws in one half of the 
country, and the National Government consents to our de- 
struction. We are denied the right of locomotion, freedom 
of speech, the right of petition, the liberty of the press, the 
right peaceably to assemble together to protest against op- 
pression and plead for liberty — at least in thirteen States of 
the Union. If we venture, as avowed and unflinching abo- 
litionists, to travel south of Mason and Dixon's line, we do 
so at the peril of our lives. If we would escape torture and 
death, on visiting any of the slave States, we must stifle our 
conscientious convictions, bear no testimony against cruelty 



168 THE CONSTITUTION 

and tyranny, suppress the struggling emotions of humanity, 
divest ourselves of all letters and papers of an anti-slavery 
character, and do homage to the slaveholding power, or run 
the risk of a cruel martyrdom. These are appalling and un- 
deniable facts. 

Three millions of the American people are crushed under 
the American Union ! They are held as slaves, trafficked as 
merchandise, registered as goods and chattels ! The govern- 
ment gives them no protection ; the government is their ene- 
my ; the government keeps them in chains ! Where they lie 
bleeding, we are prostrate by their side ; in their sorrows 
and sufferings we participate ; their stripes are inflicted on our 
bodies ; their shackles are fastened on our limbs ; their cause 
is ours ! The Union, which grinds them to the dust, rests 
upon us, and with them we will struggle to overthrow it ! The 
Constitution, which subjects them to hopeless bondage, is one 
that we cannot swear to support ! Our motto is, " NO UNION 
WITH SLAVEHOLDERS," either religious or political. 
They are the fiercest enemies of mankind, and the bitterest 
foes of God ! We separate from them, not in anger, not tn 
malice, not for a selfish purpose, not to do them an injury, not 
to cease warning, exhorting, reproving them for their crimes, 
not to leave the perishing bondman to his fate — O, no ! But 
to clear our skirts of innocent blood ; to give the oppressor no 
countenance ; to signify our abhorrence of injustice and cru- 
elty ; to testify against an ungodly compact ; to cease strik- 
ing hands with thieves and consenting with adulterers; to 
make no compromise with tyranny ; to walk worthily of our 
high profession ; to increase our moral power over the nation ; 
to obey God, and vindicate the gospel of his Son ; to hasten 
the downfall of slavery in America and throughout the world. 

We are not acting under a blind impulse. We have care- 
fully counted the cost of this warfare, and are prepared to 
meet its consequences. It will subject us to reproach, perse- 
cution, infamy ; it will proVe a fiery ordeal to all who shall 
pass through it ; it may cost us our lives. We shall be ridi- 
culed as fools, scorned as visionaries, branded as disorganizers, 



A PRO-SLAVERY COMPACT. 169 

reviled as madmen, threatened and perhaps punished as trai- 
tors. But we shall bide our time. Whether safety or peril, 
whether victory or defeat, whether life or death be ours, be- 
lieving that our feet are planted on an eternal foundation, 
that our position is sublime and glorious, that our faith in 
God is rational and steadfast, that we have exceeding great 
and precious promises on which to rely, that we are in 
the right, we shall not falter nor be dismayed, " though the 
earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried 
into the midst of the sea." Freemen ! are you ready for^v 
the conflict ? Come what may, will you sever the chain v 
that binds you to a slaveholding government, and declare 
your independence ? Up, then, with the banner of revolu-v 
tion ! Not to shed blood ; not to injure the person or estate 
of any oppressor ; not by force and arms to resist any law ; 
not to countenance a servile insurrection ; not to wield any 
carnal weapons. No ; ours must be a bloodless strife, excepting 
our blood be shed ; for we aim, as did Christ our leader, not 
to destroy men's lives, but to save them ; to overcome evil 
with good; to conquer through suffering for righteousaess' 
sake ; to set the captive free by the potency of truth ! 

Secede, then, from the government. Submit to its exac- 
tions, but pay it no allegiance, and give it no voluntary aid. 
Fill no offices under it. Send no senators or representatives 
to the National or State legislature ; for what you cannot con- 
scientiously perform yourself, you cannot ask another to per- 
form as your agent. Circulate a declaration of DISUNION 
FROM SLAVEHOLDERS, throughout the country. Hold 
mass meetings — assemble in conventions — nail your banners 
to the mast ! 

Do you ask what can be done, if you abandon the ballot 
box? What did the crucified Nazarene do without the elec- 
tive franchise ? What did the apostles do ? What did the 
glorious army of martyrs and confessors do ? What did Lu- 
ther and his intrepid associates do ? What can women and 
children do? What has Father Mathew done for teetotal- 
15 



170 THE CONSTITUTION 

ism? What has Daniel O'Connell done for Irish repeal? 
" Stand, having your loins girt about with truth, and having 
on the breastplate of righteousness," and arrayed in the 
whole armor, of God ! 

The form of government that shall succeed the present 
government of the United States, let time determine. It 
would be a waste of time to argue that question, until the 
people are regenerated and turned from their iniquity. Ours 
is no anarchical movement, but one of order and obedience. 
In ceasing from oppression, we establish liberty. What is 
now fragmentary shall in due time be crystallized, and shine 
like a gem set in the heavens, for a light to all coming ages. 

Finally — we believe that the effect of this movement will 
be, — First, to create discussion and agitation throughout the 
North ; and these will lead to a general perception of its 
grandeur and importance. 

Secondly, to convulse the slumbering South like an earth- 
quake, and convince her that her only alternative is, to abol- 
ish slavery, or be abandoned by that power on which she now 
relies for safety. 

Thirdly, to attack the slave xpower in its most vulnerable 
point, and to carry the battle to the gate. 

Fourthly, to exalt the moral sense, increase the moral 
power, and invigorate the moral constitution of all who hear- 
tily espouse it. 

We reverently believe that, in withdrawing from the 
American Union, we have the God of justice with us. We 
know that we have our enslaved countrymen with us. We 
are confident that all free hearts will be with us. We are 
certain that tyrants and their abettors will be against us. 

In behalf of the Executive Committee of the American 
Anti-Slavery Society. 

WM. LLOYD GARRISON, President. 
Wendell Phillips, 



} 

Boston, May 20, 1844. 



Maria Weston Chapman r 



A PRO-SLAVERY COMPACT. 171 



Letter from Francis Jackson. 

Boston, 4th July, 1844. 
To His Excellency George N. Briggs : 

Sir — Many years since, I received from the Executive 
of the Commonwealth a commission as Justice of the Peace. 
I have held the office that it conferred upon me till the pres- 
ent time, and have found it a convenience to myself and oth- 
ers. It might continue to be so, could I consent longer to 
hold it. But paramount considerations forbid, and I here- 
with transmit to you my commission, respectfully asking you 
to accept my resignation. 

While I deem it a duty to myself to take this step, I feel 
called on to state the reasons that influence me. 

In entering upon the duties of the office in question, I com- 
plied with the requirements of the law, by taking an oath " to 
support the Constitution of the United States." I regret that 
I ever took that oath. Had I then as maturely considered its 
full import, and the obligations under which it is understood, 
and meant to lay those who take it, as I have done since, I 
certainly never would have taken it, seeing, as I now do, that 
the Constitution of the United States contains provisions cal- 
culated and intended to foster, cherish, uphold, and perpetuate 
slavery. It pledges the country to guard and protect the 
slave system so long as the slaveholding States choose to re- 
tain it. It regards the slave code as lawful in the States which 
enact it. Still more, " it has done that, which, until its adop- 
tion, was never before done for African slavery. It took it 
out of its former category of municipal law and local life, 
adopted it as a national institution, spread around it the broad 
and sufficient shield of national law, and thus gave to slavery 
a national existence." Consequently, the oath to support the 
Constitution of the United States is a solemn promise to do 
that which is morally wrong ; that which is a violation of the 
natural rights of man, and a sin in the sight of God. 



172 THE CONSTITUTION 

I am not in this matter constituting myself a judge of oth- 
ers. I do not say that no honest man can take such an oath, 
and abide by it. I only say that I would not now deliberately 
take it ; and that, having inconsiderately taken it, I can no 
longer suffer it to lie upon my soul. I take back the oath, 
and ask you, sir, to receive back the commission, which was 
the occasion of my taking it. 

I am aware that my course in this matter is liable to be re- 
garded as singular, if not censurable ; and I must, therefore, 
be allowed to make a more specific statement of those pro- 
visions of the Constitution which support the enormous wrong, 
the heinous sin of slavery. 

The very first Article of the Constitution takes slavery at 
once under its legislative protection, as a basis of representa- 
tion in the popular branch of the National Legislature. It 
regards slaves under the description "of all other persons " — 
as of only three fifths of the value of free persons ; thus to 
appearance undervaluing them in comparison with freemen. 
But its dark and involved phraseology seems intended to blind 
us to the consideration, that those underrated slaves are mere- 
ly a basis, not the source of representation ; that by the laws 
of all the States where they live, they are regarded not as 
persons, but as things ; that they are not the constituency of 
the representative, but his property ; and that the necessary 
effect of this provision of the Constitution is, to take legisla- 
tive power out of the hands of men, as such, and give it to the 
mere possessors of goods and chattels. Fixing upon thirty 
thousand persons, as the smallest number that shall send 
one member into the House of Representatives, it protects 
slavery by distributing legislative power in a free and in a 
slave State thus : To a congressional district in South Caro- 
lina, containing fifty thousand slaves, claimed as the property 
of five hundred whites, who hold, on an average, one hundred 
apiece, it gives one Representative in Congress ; to a district in 
Massachusetts containing a population of thirty thousand fire 
hundred, one Representative is assigned. But inasmuch as a 



A PRO-SLAVERY COMPACT. 173 

slave is never permitted to vote, the fifty thousand persons in 
a district in Carolina form no part of " the constituency ; " that 
is found only in the five hundred free persons. Five hundred 
freemen of Carolina could send one Representative to Con- 
gress, while it would take thirty thousand five hnndred free- 
men of Massachusetts to do the same thing ; that is, one slave- 
holder in Carolina is clothed by the Constitution with the same 
political power and influence in the Representatives' Hall at 
Washington, as sixty Massachusetts men like you and me, 
who " eat their bread in the sweat of their own brows." 

According to the census of 1830, and the ratio of repre- 
sentation based upon that, slave property added twenty-five 
members to the House of Representatives. And as it has 
been estimated (as an approximation to the truth) that the 
two and a half million slaves in the United States are held 
as property by about two hundred and fifty thousand persons 
— giving an average of ten slaves to each slaveholder, '■ — those 
twenty-five Representatives, each chosen at most by only ten 
thousand voters, and probably by less than three fourths of 
that number, were the Representatives not only of the two hun- 
dred and fifty thousand persons who chose them, but of prop- 
erty which, five years ago, when slaves were lower in market 
than at present, were estimated by the man who is now the 
most prominent candidate for the Presidency, at twelve hun- 
dred millions of dollars — - a sum which, by the natural increase 
of five years, and the enhanced value resulting from a more 
prosperous state of the planting interest, cannot now be less than 
fifteen hundred millions of dollars. All this vast amount of 
property, as it is " peculiar," is also identical in its character. 
In Congress, as we have seen, it is animated by one spirit, 
moves in one mass, and is wielded with one aim ; and when 
we eonsider that tyranny is always timid, and despotism dis- 
trustful, we see that this vast money power would be false to 
itself, did it not direct all its eyes and hands, and put forth all 
its ingenuity and energy, to one end — self-protection and 
self-perpetuation. And this it has ever done. In all the 
15* 



174 THE CONSTITUTION 

vibrations of the political scale, whether in relation to a Bank 
or Sub-Treasury, Free Trade or a Tariff, this immense power 
has moved, and will continue to move, in one mass, for its 
own protection. 

While the weight of the slave influence is thus felt in the 
•House of Representatives, " in the Senate of the Union," says 
John Quincy Adams, " the proportion of slaveholding power 
is still greater. By the influence of slavery in the States 
.where the institution is tolerated, over their elections, no other 
than a slaveholder can rise to the distinction of obtaining a 
seat in the Senate ; and thus, of the fifty-two members of the 
federal Senate, twenty-six are owners of slaves, and are as 
effectually representatives of that interest, as the eighty-eight 
members elected by them to the House." 

The dominant power which the Constitution gives to the 
slave interest, as thus seen and exercised in the Legislative 
Halls of our nation, is equally obvious and obtrusive in every 
other department of the National Government. 

In the Electoral colleges, the same cause produces the same 
effect — the same power is wielded for the same purpose, as 
in the Halls of Congress. Even the preliminary nominating 
conventions, before they dare name a candidate for the high- 
est office in the gift of the people, must ask of the Genius of 
Slavery, to what votary she will show herself propitious. This 
very year, we see both the great political parties doing homage 
to the slave power, by nominating each a slaveholder for the 
chair of state. The candidate of one party declares, " I should 
have opposed, and would continue to oppose, any scheme what- 
ever of emancipation, either gradual or immediate ; " and 
adds, " It is not true, and I rejoice that it is not true, that 
either of the two great parties of this country has any design 
or aim at abolition. I should deeply lament it, if it were 
4rue."* 

The other party nominates a man who says, "I have no 

* Henry Clay's speech in the United States Senate in 1839, and confirmed 
at Raleigh, N. C, 1844. 



A PRO-SLAVERY COMPACT. 175 

hesitation in declaring that I am in favor of the immediate 
re-annexation of Texas to the territory and government of the 
United States." 

Thus both the political parties, and the candidates of both, 
vie with each other in offering allegiance to the slave power, 
as a condition precedent to any hope of success in the strug- 
gle for the executive chair ; a seat that, for more than three 
fourths of the existence of our constitutional government, has 
been occupied by a slaveholder. 

The same stern despotism overshadows even the sanctua- 
ries of justice. Of the nine Justices of the Supreme Court of 
the United States, five are slaveholders, and of course must 
be faithless to their own interest, as well as recreant to the 
power that gives them place, or must, so far as they are con- 
cerned, give both to law and Constitution such a construction 
as shall justify the language of John Quincy Adams, when he 
says, " The legislative, executive, and judicial authorities are 
all in their hands — for the preservation, propagation, and 
perpetuation of the black code of slavery. Every law of the 
legislature becomes a link in the chain of the slave ; every 
executive act a rivet to his hapless fate ; every judicial de- 
cision a perversion of the human intellect to the justification 
of wrong." 

Thus by merely adverting but briefly to the theory and the 
practical effect of this clause of the Constitution that I have 
sworn to support, it is seen that it throws the political power 
of the nation into the hands of the slaveholders — a body of 
men, which, however it may be regarded by the Constitution 
as " persons," is, in fact and practical effect, a vast moneyed 
corporation, bound together by an indissoluble unity of inter- 
est, by a common sense of a common danger ; counselling at 
all times for its common protection ; wielding the whole power 
and controlling the destiny of the nation. 

If we look into the legislative halls, slavery is seen in the 
chair of the presiding officer of each, and controlling the ac- 
tion of both. Slavery occupies, by prescriptive right, the 



176 THE CONSTITUTION 

presidential chair. The paramount voice that comes from the 
temple of national justice issues from the lips of slavery. 
The army is in the hands of slavery, and at her bidding must 
encamp in the everglades of Florida, or march from the Mis- 
souri to the borders of Mexico, to look after her interests in 
Texas. 

The navy — even that part that is cruising off the coast of 
Africa, to suppress the foreign slave trade — is in the hands 
of slavery. 

Freemen of the North, who have even dared to lift up 
their voice against slavery, cannot travel through the slave 
States but at the peril of their lives. 

The representatives of freemen are forbidden, on the floor 
of Congress, to remonstrate against the encroachments of 
slavery, or to pray that she would let her poor victims go. 

I renounce my allegiance to a Constitution that enthrones 
such a power, wielded for the purpose of depriving me of my 
rights, of robbing my countrymen of their liberties, and of 
securing its own protection, support, and perpetuation. 

Passing by that clause of the Constitution which restricted 
Congress for twenty years from passing any law against the 
African slave trade, and which gave authority to raise a rev- 
enue on the stolen sons of Africa, I come to that part of the 
fourth article which guarantees protection against " domestic 
violence" which pledges to the South the military force of 
the country to protect the masters against their insurgent 
slaves, and binds us and our children to shoot down our fel- 
low-countrymen who may rise, in emulation of our revolution- 
ary fathers, to vindicate their inalienable " right to life, liberty, 
and the pursuit of happiness : " this clause of the Constitution, 
I say distinctly, I never will support. 

That part of the Constitution which provides for the sur- 
render of fugitive slaves I never have supported, and never 
will. I will join in no slave hunt. My door shall stand open, 
as it has long stood, for the panting and trembling victim of 
the slave hunter. When I shut it against him, may God 



A PRO-SLAVERY COMPACT. 177 

shut the door of his mercy against me ! Under this clause 
of the Constitution, and designed to carry it into effect, slavery 
has demanded that laws should be passed, and of such a char- 
acter, as have left the free citizen of the North without pro- 
tection for his own liberty. The question, whether a man 
seized in a free State as a slave is a slave or not, the law of 
Congress does not allow a jury to determine, but refers it to 
the decision of a Judge of a United States Court, or even of 
the humblest State magistrate, it may be, upon the testimony 
or affidavit of the party most deeply interested to support the 
claim. By virtue of this law, freemen have been seized and 
dragged into perpetual slavery ; and should I be seized by a 
slave hunter in any part of the country where I am not per- 
sonally known, neither the Constitution nor laws of the United 
States would shield me from the same destiny. 

These, sir, are the specific parts of the Constitution of the 
United States which, in my opinion, are essentially vicious — 
hostile at once to the liberty and to the morals of the nation. 
And these are the principal reasons of my refusal any longer 
to acknowledge my allegiance to it, and of my determination 
to revoke my oath to support it. I cannot, in order to keep 
the law of man, break the law of God, or solemnly call him 
to witness my promise that I will break it. 

It is true that the Constitution provides for its own amend- 
ment, and that by this process all the guarantees of slavery 
may be expunged. But it will be time enough to swear to 
support it when this is done. It cannot be right to do so 
until these amendments are made. 

It is also true that the framers of the Constitution did stu- 
diously keep the words " slave " and " slavery " from its face. 
But, to do our constitutional fathers justice, while they forbore, 
from very shame, to give the word " slavery " a place in the 
Constitution, they did not forbear — again to do them justice 
— to give place in it to the thing. They were careful to 
wrap up the idea and the substance of slavery in the clause 
for the surrender of the fugitive, though they sacrificed jus- 
tice in doing so. 



178 THE CONSTITUTION 

There is abundant evidence that this clause touching " per- 
sons held to service or labor " not only operates practically, 
under the judicial construction, for the protection of the slave 
interest, but that it was intended so to operate by the framers 
of the Constitution. The highest judicial authorities — Chief 
Justice Shaw, of the Supreme Court of Massachusetts, in the 
Latimer case, and Mr. Justice Story, in the Supreme Court 
of the United States, in the case of Prigg vs. The State of 
Pennsylvania — tell us, I know not on what evidence, that 
without this " compromise," this security for Southern slave- 
holders, " the Union could not have been formed." And there 
is still higher evidence, not only that the framers of the Con- 
stitution meant by this clause to protect slavery, but that they 
did this, knowing that slavery was wrong. Mr. Madison * 
informs us that the clause in question, as it came out of the 
hands of Dr. Johnson, the chairman of the "committee on 
style," read thus : " No person legally held to service, or labor, 
in one State, escaping into another, shall," &c, and that the 
word "legally" was struck out, and the words "under the 
laws thereof" inserted after the word "State," in compliance 
with the wish of some who thought the term legal equivocal, 
and favoring the idea that slavery was legal "in a moral 
view " — a conclusive proof that, although future generations 
might apply that clause to other kinds of " service or labor," 
when slavery should have died out or been killed off by the 
young spirit of liberty, which was then awake and at work in 
the land, still slavery was what they were wrapping up in 
" equivocal " words, and wrapping it up for its protection and 
safe keeping ; a conclusive proof that the framers of the Con- 
stitution were more careful to protect themselves, in the judg- 
ment of coming generations, from the charge of ignorance 
than of sin ; a conclusive proof that they knew that slavery 
was not " legal in a moral view," that it was a violation of 
the moral law of God, and yet, knowing and confessing its 

* Madison Papers, p. 1589. 



A PRO-SLAVERY COMPACT. 179 

immorality, they dared to make this stipulation for its support 
and defence. 

This language may sound harsh to the ears of those who 
think it a part of their duty, as citizens, to maintain that what- 
ever the patriots of the Revolution did was right, and who hold 
that we are bound to do all the iniquity that they covenanted 
for us that we should do. But the claims of truth and right 
are paramount to all other claims. 

With all our veneration for our constitutional fathers, we 
must admit — for they have left on record their own confes- 
sion of it — that in this part of their work they intended to 
hold the shield of their protection over a wrong, knowing that 
it was a wrong. They made a " compromise " which they had 
no right to make — a compromise of moral principle for the 
sake of what they probably regarded as " political expediency." 
I am sure they did not know — no man could know, or can 
now measure — the extent or the consequences of the wrong 
that they were doing. In the strong language of John 
Quincy Adams,* in relation to the article fixing the basis 
of representation, " Little did the members of the Convention 
from the free States imagine or foresee what a sacrifice to 
Moloch was hidden under the mask of this concession." 

I verily believe that, giving all due consideration to the 
benefits conferred upon this nation by the Constitution, — its 
national unity, its swelling masses of wealth, its power, and 
the external prosperity of its multiplying millions, — yet the 
moral injury that has been done by the countenance shown 
to slavery — by holding over that tremendous sin the shield 
of the Constitution, and thus breaking down, in the eyes of 
the nation, the barrier between right and wrong ; by so ten- 
derly cherishing slavery as, in less than the life of a man, to 
multiply her children from half a million to nearly three mil- 
lions ; by exacting oaths from those who occupy prominent 
stations in society that they will violate at once the rights of 

* See his Report on the Massachusetts Resolutions. 



180 THE CONSTITUTION 

man and the law of God ; by substituting itself as a rule of 
right in place of the moral laws of the universe, thus in effect 
dethroning the Almighty in the hearts of this people, and set- 
ting up another sovereign in his stead — more than outweighs 
it all. A melancholy and monitory lesson this to all time- 
serving and temporizing statesmen ! — a striking illustration 
of the impolicy of sacrificing right to any considerations of 
expediency ! Yet what better than the evil effects that we 
have seen could the authors of the Constitution have reason- 
ably expected from the sacrifice of right, in the concessions 
they made to slavery ? Was it reasonable in them to expect 
that, after they had introduced a vicious element into the very 
Constitution of the body politic which they were calling into 
life, it would not exert its vicious energies ? Was it reason- 
able in them to expect that, after slavery had been corrupting 
the public morals for a whole generation, their children would 
have too much virtue to use for the defence of slavery a 
power which they themselves had not too much virtue to give ? 
It is dangerous for the sovereign power of a State to license 
immorality — to hold the shield of its protection over any 
thing that is not " legal in a moral view." Bring into your 
house a benumbed viper, and lay it down upon your warm 
hearth, and soon it will not ask you into which room it may 
crawl. Let slavery once lean upon the supporting arm and 
bask in the fostering smile of the State, and you will soon see, 
as we now see, both her minions and her victims multiply 
apace, till the politics, the morals, the liberties, even the 
religion of the nation, are brought completely under her 
control. 

To me it appears, that the virus of slavery, introduced into 
the Constitution of our body politic by a few slight punctures, 
has now so pervaded and poisoned the whole system of our 
National Government, that literally there is no health in it. 
The only remedy tliat I can see for the disease 'is to be found 
in the dissolution of the patient. 

The Constitution of the United States, both in theory and 



A PRO-SLAVERY COMPACT. 181 

practice, is so utterly broken down by the influence and 
effects of slavery, — so imbecile for the highest good of the 
nation, and so powerful for evil, — that I can give no volun- 
tary assistance in holding it up any longer. 

Henceforth it is dead to me, and I to it. I withdraw all 
profession of allegiance to it, and all my voluntary efforts 
to sustain it. The burdens that it lays upon me, while it is 
held up by others, I shall endeavor to bear patiently, yet act- 
ing with reference to a higher law, and distinctly declaring 
that while I retain my own liberty, I will be a party to no 
compact which helps to rob any other man of his. 
Very respectfully, your friend, 

FRANCIS JACKSON. 



From Mr. Webster's Speech at Niblo's Gardens. 

" We have slavery already amongst us. The Constitution 
found it amongst us ; it Tecognized it and gave it SOLEMN 
GUARANTEES. To the full extent of these guarantees we 
are all bound, in honor, in justice, and by the Constitution. 
All the stipulations contained in the Constitution in favor of 
the slaveholding States, which are already in the Union, ought 
to be fulfilled, and so far as depends on me, shall be fulfilled, 
in the fulness of their spirit and to the exactness of their 
letter"! ! ! 



Extracts from John Q. Adams's Address at North 
Bridgewater, November 6, 1844. 

" The benefits of the Constitution of the United States were, . 
the restoration of credit and reputation to the country — the 
revival of commerce, navigation, and ship building — the ac- 
quisition of the means of discharging the debts of the Revo- 
16 



182 THE CONSTITUTION 

lution, and the protection and encouragement of the infant 
and drooping manufactures of the country. All this, however, 
as is now well ascertained, was insufficient to propitiate the 
rulers of the Southern States to the adoption of the Constitu- 
tion. What they specially wanted was protection. Protection 
from the powerful and savage tribes of Indians within their 
borders, and who were harassing them with the most terrible 
of wars ; and protection from their own negroes — protec- 
tion from their insurrections — protection from their escape — 
protection even to the trade by which they were brought into 
the country — protection, shall I not blush to say, protection 
to the very bondage by which they were held. Yes ! it can- 
not be denied — the slaveholding lords of the South prescribed, 
as a condition of their assent to the Constitution, three special 
provisions to secure the perpetuity of their dominion over their 
slaves. The first was the immunity for twenty years of pre- 
serving the African slave trade ; the second was the stipulation 
to surrender fugitive slaves — an engagement positively pro- 
hibited by the laws of God delivered from Sinai ; and thirdly, 
the exaction fatal to the principles or*popular representation, 
of a representation for slaves — for articles of merchandise, 
under the name of persons. 

The reluctance with which the freemen of the North sub- 
mitted to the dictation of these conditions, is attested by the 
awkward and ambiguous language in which they are expressed. 
The word slave is most cautiously and fastidiously excluded 
from the whole instrument. A stranger, who should come 
from a foreign land and read the Constitution of the United 
States, would not believe that slavery or a slave existed with- 
in the borders of our country. There is not a word in the 
Constitution apparently bearing upon the condition of slavery, 
nor is there a provision but would be susceptible of practical 
execution, if there were not a slave in the land. 

The delegates from South Carolina and Georgia distinctly 
avowed that, without this guarantee of protection to their 
property in slaves, they would not yield their assent to the 



A PRO-SLAVERY COMPACT. 183 

Constitution ; and the freemen of the North, reduced to the 
alternative of departing from the vital principle of their liber- 
ty, or of forfeiting the Union itself, averted their faces, and 
with trembling hand subscribed the bond. 

Twenty years passed away — the slave markets of the 
South were saturated with the blood of African bondage, and 
from midnight of the 31st of December, 1807, not a slave 
from Africa was suffered ever more to be introduced upon our 
soil. But the internal traffic was still lawful, and the breeding 
States soon reconciled themselves to a prohibition which gave 
them the monopoly of the interdicted trade, and they joined 
the full chorus of reprobation, to punish with death the slave 
trader from Africa, while they cherished and shielded and 
enjoyed the precious profits of the American slave trade ex- 
clusively to themselves. 

Perhaps this unhappy result of their concession had not 
altogether escaped the foresight of the freemen of the North ; 
but their intense anxiety for the preservation of the whole 
Union, and the habit already formed of yielding to the some- 
what peremptory and overbearing tone which the relation of 
master and slave welds into the nature of the lord, prevailed 
with them to overlook this consideration, the internal slave 
trade having scarcely existed, while that with Africa had been 
allowed. But of one consequence which has followed from 
the slave representation, pervading the whole organic structure 
of the Constitution, they certainly were not prescient ; for if 
they had been, never — no, never would they have consented 
to it. 

The representation, ostensibly of slaves, under the name of 
persons, was in its operation an exclusive grant of power to 
one class of proprietors, owners of one species of property, to 
the detriment of all the rest of the community. This species 
of property was odious in its nature, held in direct violation 
of the natural and inalienable rights of man, and of the vital 
principles of Christianity ; it was all accumulated in one geo- 
graphical section of the country, and was all held by wealthy 



184 THE CONSTITUTION 

men, comparatively small in numbers, not amounting to a tenth 
part of the free white population of the States in which it was 
concentrated. 

In some of the ancient, and in some modern republics, ex-' 
traordinary political power and privileges have been invested 
in the owners of horses ; but then these privileges and these 
powers have been granted for the equivalent of extraordinary 
duties and services to the community required of the favored 
class. The Roman knights constituted the cavalry of their 
armies, and the bushels of rings gathered by Hannibal from 
their dead bodies after the battle of Cannas, amply prove that 
the special powers conferred upon them were no gratuitous 
grants. But in the Constitution of the United States, the po- 
litical power invested in the owners of slaves is entirely gratu- 
itous. No extraordinary service is required of them ; they 
are, on the contrary, themselves grievous burdens upon the 
community, always threatened with the danger of insurrec- 
tions, to be smothered in the blood of both parties, master and 
slave, and always depressing the condition of the poor free 
laborer, by competition with the labor of the slave. The 
property in horses was the gift of God to man at the creation 
of the world ; the property in slaves is property acquired and 
held by crimes, differing in no moral aspect from the pillage 
of a freebooter, and to which no lapse of time can give a pre- 
scriptive right. You are told that this is no concern of yours, 
and that the question of freedom and slavery is exclusively 
reserved to the consideration of the separate States. But if 
it be so, as to the mere question of right between master and 
slave, it is of tremendous concern to you that this little cluster 
of slave owners should possess, besides their own share in the 
representative hall of the nation the exclusive privilege of 
appointing two fifths of the whole number of the representa- 
tives of the people. This is now your condition, under that 
delusive ambiguity of language and of principle, which begins 
by declaring the representation in the popular branch of the 
legislature a representation of persons, and then provides that 



A PRO-SLAVERY COMPACT. 185 

one class of persons shall have neither part nor lot in the 
choice of their representatives ; but their elective franchise 
shall be transferred to their masters, and the oppressors shall 
represent the oppressed. The same perversion of the repre- 
sentative principle pollutes the composition of the colleges of 
electors of President and Vice President of the United States, 
and every department of the government of the Union is thus 
tainted at its source by the gangrene of slavery. 

Fellow-citizens, — with a body of men thus composed, for 
legislators and executors of the laws, what will, what must be, 
what has been your legislation ? The numbers of freemen 
constituting your nation are much greater than those of the 
slaveholding States, bond and free. You have at least three 
fifths of the whole population of the Union. Your influence 
on the legislation and the administration of the government 
ought to be in the proportion of three to two. But how stands 
the fact ? Besides the legitimate portion of influence exer- 
cised by the slaveholding States by the measure of their num- 
bers, here is an intrusive influence in every department by a 
representation nominally of persons, but really of property, 
ostensibly of slaves, but effectively of their masters, over- 
balancing your superiority of numbers, adding two fifths 
of supplementary power to the two fifths fairly secured to 
them by the compact, CONTROLLING AND OVER- 
RULING THE WHOLE ACTION OF YOUR GOV- 
ERNMENT AT HOME AND ABROAD, and warping 
it to the sordid private interest and oppressive policy of 
300,000 owners of* slaves. 

From the time of the adoption of the Constitution of the 
United States, the institution of domestic slavery has been 
becoming more and more the abhorrence of the civilized 
world. But in proportion as it has been growing odious to all 
the rest of mankind, it has been sinking deeper and deeper 
into the affections of the holders of slaves themselves. The 
cultivation of cotton and of sugar, unknown in the Union at 
the establishment of the Constitution, has added largely to the 
16* 



186 THE CONSTITUTION 

pecuniary value of the slave. And the suppression of the 
African slave trade as piracy upon pain of death, by secur- 
ing the benefit of a monopoly to the virtuous slaveholders 
of the ancient dominion, has turned her heroic tyrannicides 
into a community of slave breeders and converted the land 
of George Washington, Patrick Henry, Richard 
Henry Lee, and Thomas Jefferson, into a great barra- 
coon — a cattle-show of human beings, an emporium, of which 
the staple articles of merchandise are the flesh and blood, the 
bones and sinews of immortal man. 

Of the increasing abomination of slavery in the unbought 
hearts of men at the time when the Constitution of the United 
States was formed, what clearer proof could be desired, than 
that the very same year in which that charter of the land was 
issued, the Congress of the Confederation, with not a tithe of 
the powers given by the people to the Congress of the new 
compact, actually abolished slavery forever throughout the 
whole Northwestern territory without a remonstrance or a 
murmur. But in the articles of confederation, there was no 
guarantee for the property of the slaveholder — no double rep- 
resentation of him in the Federal councils — no power of 
taxation — no stipulation for the recovery of fugitive slaves. 
But when the powers of government came to be delegated to 
the Union, the South — that is, South Carolina and Georgia — 
refused their subscription to the parchment, till it should be 
saturated with the infection of slavery, which no fumigation 
could purify, no quarantine could extinguish. The freemen 
of the North gave way, and the deadly venom of slavery was 
infused into the Constitution of freedom. Its first consequence 
has been to invert the first principle of democracy, that the 
will of the majority of numbers shall rule the land. By means 
of the double representation, the minority command the whole, 
and a KNOT OF SLAVEHOLDERS GIVE THE LAW 
AND PRESCRIBE THE POLICY OF THE COUN- 
TRY. To acquire this superiority of a large majority of 
freemen, a persevering system of engrossing nearly all the 



A PRO-SLAVERY COMPACT. 187 

seats of power and place, is constantly for a long series of 
years pursued, and you have seen in a period of fifty-six years 
the chief magistracy of the Union held, during forty-four of 
them, by the owners of slaves. The Executive departments, 
the Army and Navy, the Supreme Judicial Court and diplo- 
matic missions abroad, all present the same spectacle ; — an 
immense majority of power in the hands of a very small 
minority of the people — millions made for a fraction of a few 

thousands. 

***** 

From that day (1830) SLAVERY, SLAVEHOLDING, 
SLAVE BREEDING, AND SLAVE TRADING HAVE 
FORMED THE WHOLE FOUNDATION OF THE 
POLICY OF THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT, and 

of the slaveholding States, at home and abroad ; and at the 
very time when a new census has exhibited a large increase 
upon the superior numbers of the free States, it has presented 
the portentous evidence of increased influence and ascendency 
of the slaveholding power. 

Of the prevalence of that power you have had continual 
and conclusive evidence in the suppression for the space of 
ten years of the right of petition, guaranteed, if there could 
be a guarantee against slavery, by the first article amendatory 
of the Constitution." 



188 THE CONSTITUTION 



Testimonies respecting the Pro-Slavery Charac- 
ter of the Constitution. 

Extracts from Speeches by Hon. Joshua R. Giddings, of Ohio. 

The gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. Burt) says he 
" should like to know what was contemplated by that clause in 
the Constitution which stipulates for the surrender of fugitive 
slaves, unless it be that their owners hold property in them." 
I answer, that clause means just what it says. It gives to the 
holder of slaves the right to pursue and recapture them in a 
free state, precisely as it gives me the right to pursue and re- 
take my apprentice, or my son, in any state to which he may 
escape. It no more admits the slave to be property, than it 
admits the apprentice or the minor to be property. I am 
tired of hearing this clause of the Constitution quoted to prove 
almost every doctrine advanced by southern men. Its provis- 
ions are of the most plain and obvious character. It merely 
provides for the recapture and return of slaves, and nothing 



These are our stipulations. We are to pass no law, make 
no regulation, by which the person escaping shall be dis- 
charged. Our duty thus far is negative. We are not to act ; 
we are to refrain from all action, to leave master and slave to 
themselves. 

The latter part of the clause says, " He shall be delivered 
up on claim of the person to whom such service or labor may 
be due." How delivered up ? This question is distinctly an- 
swered by the Supreme Court of the United States, in the 
case of Prigg vs. The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. They 
say he is to be delivered up in the same manner that we deliver 
up our friends to the civil officer in our own state. We are 



A PRO-SLAVERY COMPACT. 189 

bound to permit the master to take htm wherever he finds him. 
We must not secrete him from the master. We must not defend 
him against the master ; nor are we to rescue him from the 
master's custody after he shall have taken him. This is the 
way in which he is to be delivered up, according to the high 
tribunal which is authorized to give construction to the Con- 
stitution ; and it is worthy of remark that a majority of the 
Court making this decision were slaveholders. They have 
determined our duties ; I believe them in strict accordance 
with the intentions of those who framed the Constitution. 
***** 
We know, historically, that it was the intention of the fram- 
ers of that instrument to do no more than to secure to the 
master the same right to pursue and capture his slave in a free 
state, that he possessed to pursue and capture his horse or mule. 
This was the view expressed by the Supreme Court in the 
case of Prigg vs. The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. 



Extracts from Speeches by Hon. Charles Sumner, of Massa- 
chusetts. 

It is true that there were compromises at the formation of 
the Constitution, which were the subject of anxious debate. 

There was a compromise between the small and large 
States, by which equality was secured to all the States in the 
Senate. There was another compromise finally carried, under 
threats from the south, on the motion of a New England mem- 
ber, by which the slave States were allowed representatives 
according to the whole number of free persons, and " three- 
fifths of all other persons," thus securing political power on ac- 
count of their slaves, in consideration that direct taxes should 
be apportioned in the same way. Direct taxes have been im- 
posed at only four brief intervals. The political power has 
been constant, and, at this moment, sends twenty-one members 
to the other House. 

There was a third compromise, which cannot be mentioned 



190 THE CONSTITUTION 

without shame. It was that hateful bargain by which Con- 
gress was restrained until 1808 from the prohibition of the 
foreign slave trade, thus securing, down to that period, tolera- 
tion for crime. This was pertinaciously pressed by the South, 
even to the extent of an absolute restraint on Congress. 
* * * The effrontery of the slave masters was 
matched by the sordidness of the Eastern members, who 
yielded again. Luther Martin, the eminent member of the 
Convention, in his contemporary address to the Legislature 
of Maryland, has described the compromise. " I found," he 
says, " that the Eastern members, notwithstanding their aver- 
sion to slavery, were very willing to indulge the Southern 
States at least with a temporary liberty to prosecute the 
slave trade, provided the Southern States would in their turn 
gratify them by laying no restriction on navigation acts" 
The bargain was struck, and at this price the Southern States 
gained the detestable indulgence. At a subsequent day, Con- 
gress branded the slave trade as piracy, and thus, by solemn 
legislative act, adjudged this compromise to be felonious and 
wicked. 

Such are the three chief original compromises of the Con- 
stitution and essential conditions of Union. 



Extracts from Speeches by Hon. Horace Mann, of Massachu- 
setts. 

There may be some further positive law, which, though it 
does not authorize the buying or selling of a slave, still does 
provide that an escaped or escaping slave may be recaptured 
and redelivered into bondage. Such is the third paragraph 
of the second section of the fourth article of the Constitution 
of the United States. Such, too, is the act of Congress of 
February 12, 1793, providing for the recapture of fugitive 
slaves. This, however, would not be without positive law. 

The debates in all the conventions for adopting the Consti- 
tution of the United States, proceed upon the ground, that 



A PRO-SLAVERY COMPACT. 191 

slavery depends upon positive law for its existence. If it did 
not, — if a man who has a legal right to a slave in Virginia 
lias a legal right to him any where, — then the provision in the 
Constitution, and the act of 1793 for recapturing fugitive 
slaves, would have been unnecessary. 

In regard to this whole matter of slavery, the Constitution 
touches the subject with an averted face. The abhorred word 
"slave" is nowhere mentioned in it. The Constitution is 
ashamed to utter such a name. The country, coming fresh 
from that baptism of fire, — the American Revolution, — 
would not profane its lips with this unhallowed word. Hence, 
circumlocution is resorted to. It seeks to escape a guilty con- 
fession. Like a culprit, in ivhom some love of character still 
survives, it speaks of its offence without calling it by name. It 
uses the reputable and honorable word " persons," instead of 
the accursed word " slaves." As the Tyrian queen, about to 
perpetrate a deed which would consign her character to infa- 
my, called it by the sacred name of " marriage," and commit- 
ted it, — 

" Hoc prcetexit nomine culpa m; " 

so the Constitution, about to recognize the most guilty and cruel 
of all relations between man and man, sought to avert its eyes 
from the act, and to pacify the remonstrances of conscience 
against every participation in the crime, by hiding the deed 
under a reputable word. 

***** 
The Constitution provides for the recapture of fugitive 
slaves. Why did it not provide for the capture of a fugitive 
horse or ox? Why did it not provide that, if a horse or an 
ox should escape from a slave State into a free State, it should 
be delivered up, or be recoverable by legal process ? Because 
horses and oxen are property, by the common consent of man- 
kind. It needed no law to make them property. They are 
property by the law of nations, by the English common law, 
by the law of every State in this Union, — while men and 



192 THE CONSTITUTION 

women are not. An escaped slave could not be recovered 
before the adoption of the Constitution. Tlie. power to seize 
upon escaping slaves was one of the motives for adopting it. 

Southern papers and Southern resolution writers have a 
favorite phrase, that if Congress shall pass any law against 
the extension of slavery, they will resist it "at any and 
every hazard." Let us inquire, soberly, what a few of these 
hazards are : — 

First, as to the recovery or non-recovery of fugitive slaves, 
which is one of the alleged provocatives of dissolution. 
Take a map of the Southern States, and spread it out before 
you. Although they cover an area of about nine hundred 
thousand square miles, yet it is a very remarkable fact, that 
only an insignificantly small portion of this vast extent lies 
more than two hundred and fifty miles from a free frontier ; 
and those parts which do lie beyond this distance hold 
but few slaves. Those portions of North Carolina, South 
Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, and Tennessee, where their up- 
per boundaries converge among the mountains, are a little 
more than this distance from a free border ; but this territory 
is relatively insignificant in size, and sparsely populated with 
slaves. An outside belt or border region of the slave States, 
no part of which shall be more than one hundred miles from 
a free frontier, would embrace nearly one half of their whole 
area, and, as I suppose, much more than one half of their 
whole population. What is to prevent the easy escape of 
slaves living within these limits ? While God sends nights 
upon the earth, nothing can prevent it. I venture to predict, 
that, in such a state of things, slaves will become cheap, and 
horses will become dear. I am aware of your laws which 
forbid slaves to cross bridges or ferries without a pass ; but 
you can have no laws against seasons of low water. The old 
adage says, " Riches have wings." You will find that these 
riches have legs. The Mississippi and Ohio Rivers, where 
they border upon free States, will be alive as with shoals of 
porpoises. Remember, there is no Constitution of the United 



A PRO-SLAVERY COMPACT. 193 

States now I That you have broken. The free States are, 
therefore, absolved from all obligation to surrender fugitives. 
The law of 1793 is at an end. No action can be maintained 
for aiding them to escape, nor for harboring or concealing 
them. The distinguished senator from Kentucky (Mr. 
Clay) said, in his late speech, that no instance had ever come 
to his knowledge where an action for harboring runaways had 
been maintained in the courts of the free States, and damages 
not recovered. But this remedy you will have annulled. 
The Constitution of the United States, and the law of 1793, 
being at an end, the laiv of nature revives. By this law, every 
case of an escaping slave is but the self-recovery of stolen 
goods. When they cross the line into a free State, they are 
free, — as free as you or I. The States being separated, I 
would as soon return my own brother or sister into bondage, 
as I would return a fugitive slave. 

Here, then, is a free land frontier of about two thousand 
miles, and a free ocean frontier of about twenty-five hundred 
miles ; and more than one half of all your slaves are within 
two days' run of it. More fhan one quarter of them are 
within one night's run of it. Thousands and tens of thou- 
sands can escape, even while you are dining. Canada, now 
so distant, is brought Jive hundred miles nearer. The under- 
ground railroad will be abandoned, and its stock so invested 
as to yield quicker returns. What facilities for escape, too,, 
will the ocean present! Fleets of vessels are constantly 
passing and repassing within a few hours' sail of the coast.. 
The day for the power and the triumph of those ivhom you hate 
as abolitio7iists will have arrived. Steamboats could lie out of 
sight of land in the daytime, run in at night, and be out of 
sight again before the rising of the sun. To guard twenty- 
five hundred miles of coast is impossible. If you declare war 
in order to avenge your losses, then that war makes your coast 
lawfully accessible both by day and by night, and multiplies 2c 
hundred fold the opportunities and facilities for this self- 
recovery of stolen goods. * * * * 
17 



194 THE CONSTITUTION 

Now, the ignorant slave knows but little of geography ; 
but he would know of these avenues to freedom, and nothing 
but death could extinguish such knowledge, and the hopes it 
would inspire. Under such circumstances, slavery would melt 
away upon your borders like an iceberg in the tropics. The 
particles, that is, the individuals of the exposed surface, would 
disappear ; and you might as well attempt to stop solar evap- 
oration by statutory laws, as to prevent their escape. Perhaps 
a dissolution of the Union is the means foreordained of God 
for the extinction of slavery. 

***** 

Will separation bring relief or security [to the South ] ? 
No, sir; it will enhance the danger a myriad fold. Thou- 
sands will start up, who will think it as much a duty and an 
honor to assist the slaves in any contest with their masters, as 
to assist Greeks, or Poles, or Hungarians, in resisting their 
tyrants. Two things exist at the North which the South does 
not duly appreciate — the depth and intensity of our abhor- 
rence of slavery, and that reverence for the law which keeps 
it in check. The latter counterpoises the former. We are a 
law-abiding people. But, release us from our obligations, tear 
off from the bond with your own hands the signatures which 
bind our consciences and repress our feelings, destroy those 
compensations which the world and which posterity would 
derive from a continuance of this Union, and well may you 

tremble for the result Let men who live in a 

powder-mill beware how they madden pyrotechnists ! 



Extracts from Writings of William Ellery Channing, D. D. 

The Constitution requires the free States to send back to 
bondage the fugitive slave. Does this show that we have no 
concern with the domestic institutions of the South ? that the 
guilt of them, if such there be, is wholly theirs, and in no de- 
gree ours? This clause makes us direct partakers of the^ 



A PRO-SLAVERY COMPACT. 195 

guilt ; and, of consequence, we have a vital interest in the 
matter of slavery. 

***** 

It will be said, that the South will insist on this stipulation, 
because it is necessary to the support of her institutions. 
. . . . If the necessity be real, then it follows that the 
free States are the guardians and essential supports of sla- 
ver?/. We are the jailers and constables of the institution ; and 
yet we are told that we sustain no relation to slavery, that it 
is in no degree our concern. 

?fc yfc v& 9p "5p" 

But it is said the South is passionate, and threatens to 
secede, if we agitate this subject of slavery. ... In such 
an event, there would be no need of anti-slavery societies, of 
abolition agitations, to convert the North. The blow that 
would sever the Union for this cause would produce an in- 
stantaneous explosion to shake the whole land. The moral 
sentiment against slavery, now kept down by the interests and 
duties which grow out of union, would burst its fetters, and 
be reenforced by the whole strength of the patriotic principle, 
as well as by all the prejudices and local passions which would 
follow disunion. 

***** 

There is some excuse for communities, when, under a gen- 
erous impulse, they espouse the cause of the oppressed in 
other states, and by force restore their rights ; but they are 
without excuse in aiding other States in binding on men an 
unrighteous yoke. On this subject our fathers, in fram- 
ing the Constitution, swerved from the right. We, 
their children, at the end of half a century, see the path of 
duty more clearly than they, and must walk in it. To this 
point the public mind has long been tending, and the time has 
come for looking at it fully, dispassionately, and with manly 
and Christian resolution. 

***** 

We in the free States try to escape the reproach which 



196 THE CONSTITUTION 

falls on America, by saying that this institution is not ours, 
that the foot of the slave never pressed our soil ; but we can- 
not fly from the shame or guilt of the institution as long as 
we give it any support. Most unhappily, there are provis- 
ions of the Constitution binding us to give it support. Let 
us resolve to free ourselves from these. Let us say to the 
South, " We shall use no force to subvert your slavery ; nei- 
ther will we use it to uphold the evil." Let no temptations, 
no love of gain, seduce us to abet or sanction this wrong. 
There is something worse than to be a slave. It is, to make 
other men slaves. Better be trampled in the dust than tram- 
ple on a fellow -creature. 

***** 
No blessings of the Union can be a compensation for taking 
part in the enslaving of our fellow-creatures ; nor ought this 
bond to be perpetuated, if experience shall demonstrate that 
it can only continue through our participation in wrong doing. 
To this conviction the free States are tending. 



Extracts from Speeches by Rev. Theodore Parker, of Boston. 

In 1787, America inaugurated slavery into the Constitution. 

1. She left it in the slave States as part of the " Repub- 
lican " Institutions. 

2. Next, she provided that the owners of slaves should 
have their property represented in Congress, five slaves count- 
ing the same as three freemen ; and, at this day, in conse- 
quence of this iniquitous act, for the' 3,204,000 slaves which 
she has stolen and unjustly holds, the South has delegates in 
Congress equal to the representation of almost two millions 
of freemen in New England. 

8. It was agreed, also, that slaves, escaping from the ser- 
vice of their masters into a free State, should not thereby 
recover their freedom, but should be " delivered up." 

Here were three concessions made to slavery at first. 
They were at variance with the programme of principles in 



A PRO-SLAVERY COMPACT. 197 

the Declaration ; the programme of purpose in the Constitu- 
tion's preamble. They were known to be at variance with the 
religion of Jesus in the New Testament ; at variance with 
the laws of Nature and of God. The Convention was 
ashamed of the whole thing, and added hypocrisy to its crime j 
it did not dare mention the word slave. That was the first 
great step against freedom. It has cost us millions of people. 
We should have had a population counting millions more. 
It has cost us hundreds of millions of money. The whig is 
poorer, the democrat has a smaller majority. Ay, it has 
cost us what is worth more than both money and human life 
— it has cost manhood ; it has caused us crime, falseness to 
our nature and our God. Just now the " Christian Republic " 
commits a greater offence against the fundamental principles 
of all morality, all religion, than the Russian or the Turk, or 
any pagan despotism in the wide world. 

***** 

If the Union were to be dissolved, and a great Northern 
Commonwealth were to be organized, with the idea of free- 
dom, three quarters of the politicians, Federal and State, 
would pass into contempt and oblivion ; all that class of north- 
ern demagogues who scoff at God's law, such as filled the 
offices of the late whig administration in its day of power, or 
as fill the offices of the democratic administration to-day, — 
they would drop down so deep that no plummet would ever 
reach them. You would never hear of them again. 

Gratitude is not a very common virtue ; but gratitude to 
the hand of slavery, which feeds these creatures, is their sole 
and single moral excellence : they have that form of gratitude. 
"When the hand of slavery is cut off, that class of men will 
perish just as caterpillars die, when, some day in May, the 
farmer cuts off from the old tree a great branch to graft in a 
better fruit. The caterpillars will not vote for the grafting. 
That class of men will go for the Union while it serves them. 
***** 

There is one kind of property which is not safe just now 
17* 



198 THE CONSTITUTION 

— property in men. It is the only kind of property which is 
purely the creature of violence and law; it has no root in 
itself. 

Now, the Union protects that "property" There are three 
hundred thousand slaveholders, owning thirteen hundred mil- 
lions of dollars invested in men. Their wealth depends on the 
Union ; destroy that, and their unnatural property will take 
to itself legs and run off, seeking liberty by flight, or else stay 
at home, and, like an Anglo-Saxon, take to itself firebrands 
and swords, and burn down the master's house, and cut the 
master's throat. So the slaveholder wants the Union ; he 
makes money by it. 



Hon. William Slade, Ex- Governor of Vermont, says of the 
Constitution, — 

The grant in the Constitution of a right to reclaim to 
bondage the fugitive, struggling and panting for the enjoy- 
ment of his " inalienable " rights, was as unjust as it was 
inconsistent with the fundamental principles of our govern- 
ment, and unprecedented in the history of the world. I can- 
not look at this feature of the Constitution without saying, 
in the language of Jefferson, that " I tremble when I remem- 
ber that God is just." There is not a groan of the agonized 
fugitive, forced back to bondage under the authority of that 
Constitution, that does not enter the ears of Him who heareth 
the sighing of the prisoners, and whose judgments guilty na- 
tions must, sooner or later, be made to feel. 

It is time that the nation should open its eyes to the true 
character of this feature in its constitutional compact, as well 
as of that other provision which yielded the three fifths slave 
representation in Congress. It is now apparent that these 
concessions to slavery did, in fact, yield up this nation to the 
dominion of the sla^e power for more than half a century. 
How much longer it shall continue is for the freemen of the 
free States to determine. 



A PRO-SLAVERY, COMPACT. 199 

Extracts from an Address on the Annexation of Texas, by 
Hon. Stephen C. Phillips, of Salem. 

Politically considered, slavery must be traced back to the 
formation of the Federal Constitution. By recurring to the 
transactions of that period, we shall readily ascertain, that, 
not then content to withdraw itself from notice as a municipal 
institution, sufficiently sheltered within the Constitutions of the 
States, it presented the first claim to the protection of the gen- 
eral government, and, by the guarantees which it exacted, be- 
came enabled to draw its life-blood from the vitals of the 
Union. By the political power secured to it as a basis of 
representation, by the obligation which is imposed upon every 
State government, and the citizens of every State, to recog- 
nize and enforce its claims, slavery stands forth in the Federal 
Constitution, and presents itself to the view of every observer 
of our institutions as a great national concern, and it is seen 
and felt that every State is thus made, in a measure, respon- 
sible for maintaining or submitting to it. 

***** 

Still, while I am reluctant to receive the Constitution 
from the hands of its framers as a bequest of slavery to their 
posterity, I am compelled to admit, that, in the light of the 
subsequent history of the country, I now see clearly, that, in 
its legislative and judicial interpretation, in the claims which 
have arisen under it, in the measures in which its authority 
has been exercised, the Federal Constitution has practically 
become the palladium of slavery, — that, by virtue of its pro- 
visions, though it is not named in one of them, slavery has 
been accredited as an institution, and has been maintained as 
such on the basis of a compact bihding upon al\ the States, — 
and that the " compromises of the Constitution," in the popular 
sense of that Shibboleth of the anti-abstractionists, compre- 
hend the power to enforce the most odious pretensions of 
slavery, and especially to make the free States the instru- 
ments of guarding it against the influences of freedom, even 
to the extent of requiring of their citizens, in opposition to 



200 THE CONSTITUTION 

their moral and religious principles, to act as a police for the 
arrest of fugitives, and to expose their lives in military ser- 
vice in resisting the retributive consequences of insurrection. 

Directly, then, in a manner and degree which should make 
us constantly realize our responsibility, are we of the free 
States requiied.to exert our political influence in support of 
slavery. While the Federal Constitution lasts, it will be the 
free States, as much as the slave, that will sustain a relation 
to slavery indispensable to its security and continuance. To 
the slave panting for his liberty, the attempt is accompanied 
with but little risk, in most cases, to escape from his master 
in a slave State ; he begins to realize his danger, and to en- 
counter an insuperable obstacle, when he feels the power of 
the Federal Government, upon reaching the confines of a free 
State. If he can but touch the soil which the monarchy of 
Great Britain has not yet surrendered to the republic of 
America, that moment he is free ; but in each one of our free 
States, in Massachusetts, he must still be recognized as a slave, 
and it is our only duty, under the Federal Constitution, to re- 
bind his chains, and to become instrumental in inflicting all 
the pangs and hardships which await his return to boridage. 
It is true that public opinion, as it shall become enlightened, 
humanized, and Christianized, will render too odious and dis- 
graceful the act of arresting fugitives for any to be willing to 
undertake it; but public opinion will then have outgrown the 
Constitution, and will be in conflict with it ; and, 
therefore, to meet such an exigency as soon as it arises, the 
Constitution must be so far amended or repudiated. While 
it lasts, and so long as we shall support it, slavery can be no 
abstraction to us; and, in view of our liabilities in cases both 
of escape and insurrection, we must have much to do in sus- 
taining it — much that should make us ashamed of our posi- 
tion as it is now regarded by the civilized world, and enough 
to cause us to tremble as we anticipate our share of the right- 
eous judgments of God. 

The provision of the Constitution which secures to the 



A PRO-SLAVERY COMPACT. 201 

owners of slaves a representation in Congress, founded upon 
what is essentially a property basis, is in its nature so great 
a wrong, and has proved in its operation so great an injury, to 
the people of the free States, that it is their unquestionable 
right and duty to seek to apply the only remedy which the 
case admits. 



Extracts from the speech of Hon. Josiuh Quincy, Senior, at 
the Whig State Convention, Boston, August 16, 1854. 

The slaveholders of the South have used the powers 
vested in them by the Constitution for their own interests, as 
every other selfish association of men would have done, under 
the same circumstances, with the same powers, and under the 
same temptations. 

***** 

The Nebraska fraud is not the burden on which I intend 
now to speak. There is one nearer home, more immediately 
present, and more insupportable. Of what that burden is, I 
shall speak plainly. The obligation incumbent upon .the free 
States to deliver up fugitive slaves is that burden — and it 
must be obliterated from the Constitution, at every hazard. 
***** 

Is there a man in Massachusetts, with a spirit so low, so 
debased, so corrupted by his fears or his fortune, that he is 
prepared to say, that this is a condition of things to be en- 
dured, in perpetuity, by us, and that this is an inheritance to 
be transmitted by us to our children for all generations ? 
For, so long as the fugitive slave clause remains in the Con- 
stitution of the United States, unobl iterated, it is an obligation 
perpetual upon them., as well as upon us. .... So long 
as it remains, there is not a militia man in Massachusetts who 
may not be compelled, to-morrow, to cut the throat or blow 
out the brains of a fellow-citizen, at the will of the basest 
slaveholder. 

But I hear some timid brother exclaim, " Why, this is, 



202 THE CONSTITUTION 

in effect, a dissolution of the Union. Did not the Southern 
slaveholders tell us, before the adoption of the Constitution, 
that without the fugitive slave clause they would not come 
into the Union ; and liave they not told us every day since its 
adoption, that whenever that clause is obliterated, they will go 
out of it ? " And do you believe them any the more for this 
reiterated threat and eternal outcry? Does not the nature 
of things speak a louder language than these threateners? 
Are the slaveholders fools or madmen ? They go out of this 
Union for the purpose of maintaining the subjection of their 
slaves ? Why, the arm of the Union is the very sineiv of that 
subjection ! It is the slaveholder's main strength. 
Its continuance is his forlorn hope. 

In an address illustrative of the nature and power of the 
slave system, and the duties of the free States, delivered at 
Quincy, June 5, 1856, the same venerable statesman says, — 

More than fifty years' attentive observation of the opera- 
tions of the slave power in this Union compels me to de- 
clare, that the provision of the Constitution of the United 
States, which gave to them the weight of their slaves in the 
balance of power, has been the great ihisfortune of this Union, 
and will be its destruction, unless the free States rally to its 
rescue, and take possession of the government. A longer 
continuance of it in the hands of slaveholders seems practica- 
bly impossible. 

I know that, on this subject, the free States are always 
ominously told, " that, if the slave States cannot continue to 
govern the TJnion, they will go out of it." It is a question of 
some curiosity, where, in such case, these emigrating gentle- 
men will go, and what they will do with that living, slippery 
luggage they must carry with them. * * 

Many years ago, John Quincy Adams related a conver- 
sation which he once had with John C. Calhoun on this 

very subject " The impression which it produced 

on my mind," said Mr. Adams, " is, that the bargain between 



A PRO-SLAVERY COMPACT 203 

Freedom and Slavery, contained in the Constitution of the 
United States, is morally and politically vicious, inconsistent 
with the principles on which alone our revolution can be jus- 
tified* cruel and oppressive by riveting the chains of slavery, 
by pledging the faith of freedom to maintain and perpetuate 
the tyranny of the master, and grossly unequal and impolitic 
by admitting that slaves are at once enemies to be kept in 
subjection, property to be secured and returned to their own- 
ers, and persons not to be represented themselves, but for whom 
their masters are privileged with nearly a double share of 
representation. The consequence has been, that this slave 
representation has governed the Union. Benjamin's portion 
above his brethren has ravined as a wolf. In the morning he 
has devoured the prey, and in the evening has divided the 
spoil." 

Judge Story, in his Commentaries on the United States 
Constitution, referring to the clause, " No person held to ser- 
vice or labor," &c, says : — 

This clause was introduced into the Constitution solely for 
the benefit of the slaveholding States, to enable them to reclaim 
their fugitive slaves, who should have escaped into other 
States where slavery was not tolerated. The want of such 
a provision, under the Confederation, was felt as a grievous 
inconvenience by the slaveholding States ; since, in many of 
the States, no aid whatsoever would be allowed to the own- 
ers, and sometimes, indeed, they met with open resistance. 
In fact, it cannot escape the attention of every intelligent 
reader, that many sacrifices of opinion and feeling are to be 
found, made by the Eastern and Middle States, to the peculiar 
interests of the South. 

Again : — 

Historically, it is well known that the object of this clause 
was to secure to the citizens of the slaveholding States the 
complete right and title of ownership in their slaves, as prop- 



204 TIIE CONSTITUTION 

erty, in every State in the Union into which they might es- 
cape from the State where they were held in servitude. 
The full recognition of this right and title was indispensable 
to the security of this species of property in all the slave- 
holding States ; and, indeed, was so vital to the preservation 
of their domestic interests and institutions, that it cannot be 
doubted that it constituted a fundamental article, without the 
adoption of which the Union could not have been formed. 
Its true design was to guard against the doctrines and princi- 
ples prevalent in the non-slaveholding States, by preventing 
them from intermeddling with, or obstructing, or abolishing 
the rights of the owners of slaves. 

Referring to the clause, permitting a slave representation 
in Congress, he says : — 

The truth is, that the arrangement adopted by the Con- 
stitution was a matter of compro?nise and concession, confess- 
edly unequal in its operation, but a necessary sacrifice to that 
spirit of conciliation which was indispensable to the union of 
States having a great diversity of interests, and physical con- 
dition, and political institutions. It was agreed that slaves 
should be represented, under the mild appellation of " other 
persons," not as free persons, but only in the proportion of 
three fiftns. 

Of the clause providing for the continuance of the foreign 
slave trade for the term of twenty years, Judge Story 
says : — 

It was notorious that the postponement of an immediate 
abolition was indispensable to secure the adoption of the Con- 
stitution. It was a necessary sacrifice to the prejudices and 
interests of a portion of the Southern States. 

Judicial Expositions and Decisions. 
1st. Johnson vs. Tompkins, 1 Baldwin's C. C. Reports, 571. 
The master from another State may pursue and take his 
fugitive slave without warrant. He may arrest him any 



A PRO-SLAVERY COMPACT. 205 

* 

where and at any time, and no person has a right to oppose 
the master in the act, or to demand proof of property. The 
Constitution and laws of the United States secure this right 
2d. Prigg vs. The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, 16 Pe- 
ters's Reports, 539, &c. 

Per Taney, C. J. The master has a right peaceably to 
take possession of his slave, and carry him away, without any 
certificate or warrant from any judge of the District or Circuit 
Court of the United States, or from any magistrate of the 
State ; and whoever resists or obstructs him is a wrong-doer, 
and every State law which proposes, directly or indirectly, to 
authorize such resistance or obstruction, is null and void, and 
affords no justification to the individual or officer of tl^ State 
who acts under it. 

Per Story, J. Under and in virtue of the Constitution, 
the owner of a slave is clothed with entire authority, in every 
State in the Union, to seize and recapture his slave. The 
Constitution of the United States was designed to uphold and 
justify the act of seizing and removing a slave by his master. 
3d Commonwealth vs. Griffith, 2 Pick. 11, 

Per Parker, C. J. It is very obvious that slaves are not 
parties to the Constitution, and the amendment (securing the 
people against unreasonable seizures, &c.) has relation to the 
parties. 

Extract from No. LIV. of " The Federalist," on « The Patio 
of Representation" 

The next view which I shall take of the House of Repre- 
sentatives relates to the apportionment of its members to the 
several States, which is to be determined by the same rule 
with that of direct taxes. * * * 

It will perhaps be said, But does it follow from an admis- 
sion of numbers for the measure of representation, or of 
slaves combined with free citizens, as a ratio of taxation, that 
slaves ought to be included in the numerical rule of represen- 
18 



206 THE CONSTITUTION 

tation ? Slaves are considered as property, not as persons. 
They ought, therefore, to be comprehended in estimates of 
taxation which are founded on property, and to be excluded 
from representation which is regulated by a census of persons. 
This is the objection, as I understand it, stated in its full force. 
I shall be equally candid in stating the reasoning which may 
be offered on the opposite side. 

We subscribe to the doctrine, might one of our southern 
brethren observe, that representation relates more immediately 
to persons, and taxation more immediately to property, and 
we join in the application of this distinction to the case of our 
slaves. But we must deny the fact that slaves are considered 
merely as property, and in no respect whatever as persons. 
The true state of the case is, that they partake of both these 
qualities ; being considered, by our laws, in some respects as 
persons, and in other respects as property. In being com- 
pelled to labor not for himself, but for a master ; in being vendi- 
ble by one master to another master ; and in being subject at 
all times to be restrained in his liberty, and chastised in his 
body, by the capricious will of another, the slave may appear 
to be degraded from the human rank, and classed with those 
irrational animals which fall under the legal denomination of 
property. In being protected, on the other hand, in his life 
and in his limbs, against the violence of all others, even the 
master of his labor and his liberty, and in being punishable 
himself for all violence committed against others, the slave is 
no less evidently regarded by the law as a member of the so- 
ciety, not as a part of the irrational creation ; as a moral per- 
son, not as a mere article of property. The federal Constitu- 
tion, therefore, decides with great propriety on the case of our 
slaves, when it views them in the mixed character of persons 
and of property. This is, in fact, their true character. It is 
the character bestowed on them by the laws under which they 
live ; and it will not be denied that these are the proper crite- 
rion. * * * 

Let the case of the slaves be considered, as it is in truth, a 



A PRO-SLAVERY COMPACT. 207 

peculiar one. Let the compromising expedient of the Con- 
stitution be mutually adopted, which regards them as inhab- 
itants, but as debased by servitude below the equal level of 
free inhabitants, which regards the slave as divested of two 
fifths of the man. 



In the debate in Congress on the question of censuring 
John Q. Adams for presenting a petition for a dissolution of 
the Union, Mr. Underwood, of Kentucky, said : — 

They [the South] were the weaker portion, were in the 
minority. The North could do what they pleased with them ; 
they could adopt their own measures. All he asked was, that 
they would let the South know what those measures were. 
One thing he knew well — that the State which he in part 
represented had perhaps a deeper interest in this subject than 
any other, except Maryland and a small portion of Virginia. 
And why ? Because he knew that to dissolve the Union, and 
separate the different States composing this confederacy,* — 
making the Ohio River and Mason and Dixon's line the boun- 
dary line, — he knew as soon as that was done, slaver?/ teas 
done in Kentucky, Maryland, and a large portion of Virginia, 
and it would extend to all the States south of this line. The 
dissolution of the Union was the dissolution of slavery. It 
had been the common practice for southern men to get up on 
this floor and say, "Touch this subject, and we will dissolve 
this Union as a remedy." Their remedy was the destruction 
of the thing which they wished to save, and any sensible man 
could see it. If the Union were dissolved into two parts, the 
slave would cross the line, and then turn round and curse his 
master from the other shore. 

Mr. Tlwmas D. Arnold, of Tennessee, in a speech on the 
same subject, spoke as follows : — 

The free States had now a majority of forty-four in that 
House. Under the new census, they would have fifty-three. 



208 THE CONSTITUTION A PRO-SLAVERY COMPACT. 

The cause of the slaveholding States was getting weaker and 
weaker ; and what were they to do ? He would ask his south- 
ern friends what the South had to rely on, if the Union were 
dissolved ? Suppose the dissolution could be peaceably effect- 
ed, (if that did not involve a contradiction in terms,) what 
had the South to depend upon ? All the crowned heads were 
against her. A million of slaves were ready to rise and strike 
for freedom at the first tap of the drum. Were they to cut 
loose from their friends at the North, (friends that ought to be, 
and without them the South had no friends,) whither were 
they to look for protection ? How were they to sustain an 
assault from England or France, with that cancer at their 
vitals ? The more the South reflected, the more clearly she 
must see that she had a deep and vital interest in maintaining 
the Union. 

The editor of the Maryville (Tennessee) Intelligencer, in 
an article on the slave population, says : — 

We of the South are emphatically surrounded by a dan- 
gerous class of beings, — degraded, stupid savages, — who, 
if they could but once entertain the idea that immediate and 
unconditional death would not be their portion, would react 
the St. Domingo tragedy. But the consciousness, with all 
their stupidity, that a tenfold force, superior in discipline, if 
not in barbarity, would gather from the four corners of the 
United States, and slaughter them, keeps them in subjection. 
But to the non-slaveholding States particularly we are indebted 
for a permanent safeguard against insurrection. Without 
their assistance, the white population of the South would be 
too weak to quiet that innate desire for liberty which is ever 
ready to act itself out with every rational creature. 



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